Quality Education

By Sandra A. "Sandy" Carey

Out kids must have access to clean, safe environments in which to learn, and access to mandatory music, arts and physical education programs in all curriculums

I have a close friend who has two young children in kindergarten and second grade. This guy is a fabulous parent, and he did a lot of research before he made the decision to send his kids to private school. This was a decision that pained him greatly because he believes is supporting the public school system, at least in concept.

The difference between some of our public schools and a typical private school is pretty staggering. There shouldn't be this disparity -- we need to strive to bring every public school in our state to the level of excellence that the good public and private schools enjoy.

We have taken the soul out of the educational offerings. Arts, music, and physical education are most often afterthoughts in much of our public education curriculums, and then only if parents are very involved and can actively participate.

Public education is today very much about testing protocols, with this frantic need for every student to be at a predetermined "level" of education. There is no doubt that we need some sort of measurement of how our kids are learning and if the system is doing its job, but it has gotten a little bit out of control -- it is more about testing than about teaching and addressing the needs and progress of the children.

There are so many layers of administrative infrastructure in the education system that we seem to have gotten away from the priority of educating and enriching our children. Schools need to be allowed to spend their resources based on the needs of their particular students. Furthermore, we need to get back to stimulating our kids with enriching educational programs. We need to use education money for the welfare of the kids, not for the bureaucracy.

As your Assemblyperson, I will sponsor legislation that encourages bi-partisan solutions to cut wasteful spending in our education budget. This will encourage spending to be directed at good teachers and safe and clean facilities for our children.

What this means to you as a parent is clear -- better, more exciting and well-rounded educational opportunities for your children. What it means to all of us is a future with stimulated, happy, and well-educated young adults.