I want parents to be empowered to determine the course of their children's education. No one knows the children and what is best for them more than their parents do, and parents should always have the final say.
There should be an option for all students in the district - whether they need accelerated courses or specialized courses. We should be striving for EXCELLENCE in our curriculum and our schools as a whole. The more local the control, the more effective our schools will be.
The purpose of education should be to develop our children as individuals, to teach them facts, understanding of things around them and a thorough understanding of those that came before them. We should be giving them rich experiences that will shape their lives, and encourage each of them to reach their full potential. The parents, the community, and the taxpayers deserve to have a voice - they deserve to be heard and to have the school district reflect their goals and values, not just be allowed to respond after decisions are made, but to actually drive the policy. Your school board member should be accessible, respectful, and accountable to you, and by working together we can make an already good school district even better!
"I know of no safe depositor of the ultimate powers of a society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."
- Thomas Jefferson