3. Education

Right now, we have a dilemma.  The Legislature cut funding for our children's education while still promoting school vouchers.  Of course, they didn't tell you that the only people who can use the vouchers are the rich since there are no schools, except perhaps Catholic schools (and you have to be a parishoner) that cost $1,200 or less per school year.   And tuition tax credits have to be removed.  This is a running faucet that slowly steals money away from our public schools and puts it into for-profit private schools and religious institutions, neither of which should be getting public funds.
 
We have good, decent unemployed teachers who would love the opportunity to teach again.  So let's figure this out.  The first thing we need to do is get a Superintendent of Schools who was actually an educator in the public school system.  Being on a school board and having attended schools is not -- I repeat, not -- a valid background to run the Arizona Public School System.  And it is less so to run this great state.  We currently face a dropout rate of over 30%.  This is unacceptable.
 
The second thing we need to do is get these teachers back to work and get these class sizes down to manageable levels of 25 students per teacher or less.
 
The third thing we need to do is get parents to be accountable for their children.  No more lawsuits because a teacher did her job and failed a child for not doing her school work, no more passing a child on to the next grade because it is easier (teachers passed my own daughter on to 9th grade when she didn't earn it).  My own parents had to come to school if I misbehaved or failed (I didn't -- heaven help me if either of my parents had to speak to a teacher or another adult about my behavior; my sister, on the other hand...).  It is time to restore personal accountability.
 
I am committed to working with Arizona's teachers to restore our public education system and produce the finest graduates in the country.  We are fully capable of greatness, and I, for one, am tired of the jokes and nasty remarks directed our way.  This is my home and I know we can be the best.