Education

Improving our education system is the key to maintaining America’s competitive edge in the global economy and providing Americans with high paying jobs.

Unfortunately, our children have fallen behind their counterparts from other countries, especially in math and science. These are the very subjects we need our children to excel in so they can participate in the economy of the future. As an engineer who was fortunate to receive a first class education at Duke University and a graduate degree from Dartmouth, this is a subject of particular importance to me.  

I am a big supporter of school choice. We need to provide a thorough education for every child in America, not just those who can afford it or who happen to live in a strong school district. Parents should be given the choice of where to send their children. It is my firm belief that parents, not government bureaucrats, know where their children should be educated and should not be limited to the school located closest to their home.

We can accomplish this by simply giving every parent a voucher for a certain number of dollars that can be given by the parent to an accredited school to pay for the cost of education. Parents are given a choice; they are not forced to send their child to a failing school or one that has an educational philosophy that disagrees with the parent’s values. Failing schools will be quickly identified as parents and students “vote with their feet”.

 I support “pay for performance” for teachers. We need to reward good teachers, and attract more talented people into the teaching profession.

 I support requiring teachers to have degrees in the subjects they’re teaching. I’d like my granchildren’s math teachers to have math related degrees, instead of general degrees in education.

 I support tax credits for businesses who provide scholarships to needy children.