The continual “Dumbing Down” of our students is yet another danger American family’s face.  An educational system, that does not give students the tools for critical thinking, allows news and television to not be challenged by a well educated people. These become roadways of ignorance and extremism.

When I am in Congress, you will have an ally to work on behalf of your family to see that our children are well equipped with a quality education.  I believe it is of the utmost importance that our children have those tools and ability to form opinions based on reason and intellectual curiosity.

No Child Left Behind Act

When the "No Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB) became a reality in 2002, parents quickly began to be concerned about the quality of America's primary and secondary public educational systems, The promise of NCLB was that children would be brought up to grade level with punitive measures to weed out "failing schools" and "failing teachers" through strict accountability and measurements. However, this law was more a political, than an educational, bill.

The Republican Party leadership has had a decades long, drumbeat message about public school education.

1. Public schools are a failure;
2. The Federal government needs to stay out of local schools; and
3. Just throwing money at this problem will not solve it.

With NCLB these self-fulfilling prophecies are now real. Public education in America is at low ebb and there is an exodus of teachers of good quality. Problems with school performance across the nation are reported almost daily; there is an expanding consensus that public education is bad and that only privatization of America's schools can save us.

This original premise was untrue. The problems with America's educational system, prior to NCLB were actually not severe as these politicians were claiming. Across the nation qualified teachers were coming into the field and were making progress in learning the tools they needed to regain America's preeminence in education. Now the problems have become real.

I am a product of our excellent public school system. I believe it is of the utmost importance that our children are well educated by the best teachers so they can be critical thinkers, forming opinions for themselves and become active members of our society. To make certain that our educational system returns to its historic excellent level, I propose that several changes be made to return to excellence.

Unfunded Mandate: No Child Left Behind

• Teachers Forced to Teach to the Test
• Educating Students for the Future

Our district has the finest teachers in the state and perhaps the nation. Why are Washington bureaucrats in our classrooms, standing between these fine teachers and our children? Why are there mandates that use testing as a punitive hammer to threaten our fine teachers. As your Congressman, I will work with educational professionals who know the weaknesses of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and will get corrective action in place so great teachers can become great educators again.

Teachers Forced to Teach to the Test

Teachers and parents charge that NCLB is designed as a punishing mechanism against teachers, pressuring them to teach students to score well on tests. Many vital subjects including math, science, history and foreign languages are minimized or ignored. Our children leave schools with good test taking abilities but without a well rounded educational experience. Are they ready to compete in a flat and shrinking world with scholars from China, India, Europe and elsewhere? The fabric of our American society depends on our well-educated people. We should not, and I will not let our future generations become second-rate in a challenging global economy!

Educating Students for the Future

NCLB mandated states to test children but were provided inadequate funds to accomplish this. I will see to it that our local school districts and taxpayers will not shoulder the burden of such federal mandates. NCLB will be reauthorized in the 112th Congress and I will be there to ensure that the goal is quality teaching of math, science, history and foreign languages are key components as well as a strong emphasis on well rounded education. With NCLB changed so that standardized testing is substantially reduced and better measurements of quality are implemented, the stress on our families can be relieved knowing that they and future generations are secure.