Education

No child left behind should not mean just preparing students for excellent scores on tests, but rather should mean preparing our children for excellence in life.

Education is a lifelong experience, a never-ending activity. A well-educated citizenry is the best investment and the most valuable asset of a thriving democracy.

Our federal government must commit to lifelong enrichment of all Americans from early childhood through college and on into the adult and senior years, including: support for HeadStart, childcare, fully funding and reforming No Child Left Behind, English proficiency, every child earning a high school diploma, teacher development & support, college affordable for everyone, an educated society for a prosperous economy, lifelong educational opportunities, and senior volunteers for tutoring and mentoring.

No Child Left Behind has been poorly funded and improperly implemented, distorting educational priorities, disrupting teaching, and discouraging children.

Just when we need to invest the most in revitalizing our nation’s future, school budgets are being cut. Florida's students are consistently ranked below the rest of the nation, and our nation has an embarrassingly low rating among the industrialized nations of the world. High school dropout rates make the situation even worse. Teachers are becoming discouraged and leaving the profession.

The cost of a college education — the “American Dream” — has skyrocketed almost 40% over the last five years. Higher education of all sorts has become a ‘luxury’ that more and more young Americans jut cannot afford.

Here's my plan for education:

1. Expand Early Childhood Education programs like HeadStart

2. Make Childcare Accessible and Affordable
Young working families can better support the school experience of their children and encourage safe, wholesome out-of-school activities if after-school, school-holiday, and vacation childcare is accessible and affordable.

3. Fully Fund & Reform No Child Left Behind, Reward Teaching & Learning, Not Testing
The Bush administration has turned education on its head—rather than testing students to see how they have learned, we are making them learn to see how well they will test. With all the emphasis on testing a few “core” subjects, many other subjects that contribute to increased intelligence, enhanced aptitude, better citizenship, and fuller, richer lives are suffering—subjects like music, arts, history, science, foreign languages, physical education, and more.

Politicians in Washington, including our current congressman, have repeatedly voted to underfund No Child Left Behind. Instead, Tim will lead in Congress to reform our entire system of education, making it a priority for the protection of our democracy as urgent and as critical as our military defense. Schools that underperform should be helped, not penalized. No Child Left Behind should not mean just preparing students for excellent scores on tests, but rather should mean preparing our children for excellence in life.

4. Support Teaching the English Language
America is a diverse and vibrant nation in large part because of the multitude of ethnic and national identities. Part of that is often the use of a foreign language amongst family and friends—such "roots" should be encouraged. But our American kids need both "roots" and "wings" — and, in America, that means all kids learning the English language. Proficiency in English is essential for our children to get ahead and to fully participate in the American experience. English proficiency programs must be expanded and fully funded, and total fluency in spoken and written English by all Americans should be an urgent national priority.

5. Every Child Should Earn A High School Diploma
We need alternatives for secondary education so that every American child earns a high school diploma. Far too many students are dropping out of high school, condemning themselves to frustrating lives of menial jobs (if they can find one), minimal pay, substandard dwellings, and lifelong public assistance. It’s a waste of their personal potential and a waste of the contribution they could be making to our society and to our economy.
Traditional education just doesn’t work for a significant number of high school students, with many districts seeing dropout rates of more than 20 and 30 percent. High school dropouts are far more likely to be unemployed, in prison, and living in poverty than are graduates.
Tim’s proposals include:

• Work-study and ‘apprenticeship’ partnerships between the business community and local schools need to be encouraged and funded to provide an alternative to traditional high school.
• Remedial and tutoring programs, including utilizing retired seniors as educators and mentors will offer practical tools for success as well as emotional support and encouragement that may be lacking in the student’s life.
• Financial support for students who feel forced to leave in order to work at menial jobs to supplement family incomes. It is far cheaper for the government to support a student in getting a high school education and becoming a productive member of society than to support them on welfare for the rest of their life.
• Support for private and non-profit “high school to college” programs in conjunction with programs in our local schools.

6. Promote Educational Professional Excellence
Because of poor pay, lack of support, and difficult working conditions, more than 30% of teachers leave the profession after the first three years. Fundamentally, a system of education is only as good as the quality and character of the teachers it can attract and retain. Florida’s students deserve the best educators possible.
Tim’s plan includes:

• Better pay and benefits for educators who make a long-term commitment to the teaching profession.
• Increased funding for improved internship, mentoring, and continuing education programs for new teachers to keep them in their jobs and to assist them in doing an even better job for our children.
• Subsidizing the college education of future teachers through grants and scholarships for subjects of critical need, and providing student loan deferral and forgiveness based on continued commitment to the teaching profession.

7. Make Higher Education Affordable for All
It is essential to the future vitality of our country to develop proficiency and expertise among our young; therefore, all Americans should be able to pursue the higher education of their choice without regard to their financial resources.
Currently, higher education is just not an option for many young Americans. As an example, some individual college textbooks cost well over $100 each, and often one course will require 2 or 3 such books. Financial aid is very often not enough to make it feasible for many qualified students to pursue a higher education; and, when it is available, it’s often difficult to find and to get. Tim’s plan includes:

• Pass a Tuition Tax Credit to provide families up to $4000 to cover college costs.
• Expand access to Pell Grants
• Offer scholarships and grants, and student loan referral and forgiveness programs for students who volunteer in organizations like the Peace Corps, Teach for America, AmeriCorps (VISTA), and similar groups in the non-profit sector.
• Establish and expand tax incentives for businesses that provide financial support to employees for pursuing higher education.
• Expand the GI Bill to provide for additional educational benefits for all veterans whenever they may have served.

8. An Educated Society for a Prosperous Economy
A community with a sound school system produces outstanding students who become a productive and reliable workforce. Business and industry are attracted to such communities and everyone prospers. We must obtain every federal resource for the several counties of the 6th Congressional District to bolster our schools and foster strong alliance between the educational system and the business community, and to attract new industries to north central Florida.

9. Support Ongoing Adult Education
This is an ever faster world. A young person graduating high school or college now will not have five jobs during his or her lifetime, but rather is projected to have an average of five careers before retiring. Technology is evolving at an unprecedented rate, and our federal government must be committed to programs for continuing adult education to keep up with that change if our economy is to remain competitive with the rest of the world.
Also, there are millions of adults who never completed high school or college; their lives and the lives of their families would be greatly enhanced by completing that education. Tim wants the government to expand access to educational alternatives such as online learning, night and weekend classes, and credit for on-the-job experience.

10. Senior Education and Senior Tutoring and Mentoring
Senior citizen involvement in education should not stop at retirement. Our nation’s elders have a lifetime of experience and a wisdom that only results from having lived for many decades. Government at all levels needs to promote continuing education for all seniors—such programs will benefit the entire society by keeping a vital resource engaged in and contributing to their communities.

Specifically, the federal government should initiate a bold aggressive national program to recruit, train, and encourage tens of thousands of elder Americans to serve as tutors and mentors in our nation’s primary and secondary schools. They would supplement and support teachers, provide one-on-one instruction for students who otherwise would fall behind or drop out, and be a ‘surrogate grandparent’ as a mentor for so many children from fractured families.