old- Campaign Issues

 

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I believe there are three core issues at stake in this campaign:

1. Changing Education for a Changing World:  Our children will live and work in a world being transformed by the information revolution.  The old model for teaching and learning in schools used when we were students is no longer appropriate.  Schools today need to adapt to the realities of today’s– and tomorrow’s– world.  They need to prepare our children for creative, critical thinking, to work in flexible teams, adapt to changing technology, and interact with citizens around the world.   Such preparation requires exposure to science, the arts, music, theater, and athletics.  And it requires difficult, but exciting, changes to how we approach traditional subjects such as reading and math.

2. Fiscal Responsibility: The resources of our community are limited.  As taxpayers, we are rightfully concerned about cutting waste at our schools, reforming the education bureaucracy, and getting the best overall value for our tax dollars.   My wife’s 2010 job loss due to the recession and my mother-in-law’s struggles on a fixed income make the economic realities we face personal to me.  We need to do everything we can to keep taxes low today and make investments that will keep taxes low in the future.

3. Finding Balance:  Excellent schools and fiscal responsibility require balanced decision-making based on accurate information, careful problem solving, and well-informed judgment.   We need a school board focused on education and the needs of children and community rather than one focused on politics.   Complex problems require an inclusive approach that brings people together to find solutions.  The politicized approach is unproductive, divisive, and serves nobody’s interests.   Let’s leave partisan squabbles and political grandstanding to Harrisburg and Washington.

I share many of my views on more concrete, specific issues in the “News” page of this site.


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