Issues & Solutions

We need to ensure that education in NC is focused on the education of our children and not the Management and Administration in Raleigh. I believe that the administration budget can be more effective if controlled at the local level. My focus will be on reducing the $340 Million plus budget in the Raleigh DPI and returning the money to the counties for increased educational opportunities that focus on the needs of our children. The focus of education is to prepare our students for life after high school, whether it be college, vocational school or the job market.

The best interest of students in North Carolina should be determined at the local level. We all know that local control is always the most effect and allows for a grassroots effort to improve the education of our children. My ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the position of Superintendent of NC DPI.

THREE STEP PLAN TO IMPROVING EDUCATION IN NC

The key is to allow teachers to teach and stop using them as the scapegoat for education failures. Education can only be successful  when all three components work together. These components are excellent educators, involved parents and students that want to learn. We need to move away from teaching toward a test. What is the true definition of education? I believe that it is LONG TERM RETAINED KNOWLEDGE. Teaching toward a test does not meet the definition. Here is my proposal to improve the education system.

1. End of grade testing for grades 3-8 should be given in the first week of September during the following year. What will this do? First, it will measure the true retained knowledge of the student. Second, it will allow the teachers to better understand where they need to go with the student during the year. Finally and most importantly, administration could not force the teachers to teach toward a test, since the children would have difficulty retaining “crammed” information. Therefore, teachers would be allowed to do their job and teach toward mastery, since mastery is the only way to improve retention. Teachers would be able to use their skills. What a novel idea!

2. I do believe that most parents, that are not involved in their child’s education,  want to help. These parents don’t know how to help their children. We need to teach parents how to assist in their child’s education. If education stops everyday when the leave the schoolhouse it is very difficult for a children to make their learning concrete. Parents have to take some responsibility in their children’s education. They need to prepare children for their first day of school and relay the importance of education.

3. Children need to “buy” into the education system. Teachers are professionals and have spent many years perfecting their skills to make education fun and exciting. They learn to teach using different learning styles, differentiate instruction and effectively assess the child’s educational learning and needs. Teachers are forced to teach toward the test which makes it very difficult to effectively use their skills. Allowing teachers to teach to mastery will keep the children interested and truly see the importance of education through their successes.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE LOTTERY MONEY WENT?

The fact is that the lottery money is going to education in North Carolina; however here is the real story!

All school districts pay sales tax on everything that they purchase which goes to the state.  Prior to the lottery, the sales tax money was held by the state, interest was collected and the money was returned to the county school districts at the end of the year.  When the lottery went into effect one of the first things that the legislators did was change this policy.  The state now collects and keeps the sales tax money from the counties.  The lottery money that was to be a supplement is actually a replacement of funds.  In fact, most school districts pay more in sales tax than they receive in lottery funds.  A  NET LOSS for many school districts across the state.