Issue Position: Education & Workforce Development
Issue Position
Coming from a family of teachers and having two children in Laurens District 55 Schools, I have a very personal desire to help education and workforce development in District 14. As a graduate of Piedmont Technical College and small business owner, I understand the critical role that education and work force development plays for the people of our district. District 14 has many great opportunities for workforce development with Piedmont Technical College, the CAM (Center for Automotive Manufacturing) and I will also work to ensure the development of a CATE (Career and Technology Education) Center in our district. The CATE center is vital to helping connect people with jobs in our district.
We've seen the disastrous effects of the U.S. Dept of Education and programs like No Child Left Behind. These programs eliminated skilled trade schools by saying everyone should go to a four year school. If you as a student weren't going to a four college then you were left behind.
I believe that in order to have better outcomes in education, government must allow more choice. We can not have a prosperous and responsible society if we have a system of dependency. These decisions should be returned to parents, students and teachers. I will support legislation that allows more freedom in education. I support allowing funding to follow the child.
These choices must be returned to the local level with parents, students and teachers making these important decisions. With school choice, we would have a more competitive environment that would allow for more opportunities in education. This would provide better outcomes for both students, parents and teachers.
In my time serving on Laurens County Council, we've experienced incredible industrial growth. We have the jobs. We must focus on workforce development and trade skills in order to better equip people for jobs. I will support legislation that promotes and allows more educational choice such as charter schools, homeschools and skilled training for students.
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