Yuma, La Paz, Mohave Counties, AZ November 3, 1998 General
Smart Voter

Education

By Lawrence K "Larry" Nelson, Sr.

Candidate for State Senator; District 5

This information is provided by the candidate
In the next few years the "Baby Boomer" teachers will be retiring leaving a big hole in education nationwide. We rank at or near the bottom on many studies on teachers pay. We need to correct this so we can properly educate our children
The new teachers graduating from out State Universities are being offered salaries twice the amount that many districts can offer. With the retirement of the "Baby Boomers' we are going to see a significant shortage nationwide for new teachers. This must be addresed and soon. Rural Arizona will be the hardest hit since they have the lowest salaries and are the hardest jobs to fill. The rural superintendents have shared with me their concerns and are hoping that we can help them. I would also propose a performance based system that would allow the schools to reward the consistantly outstanding teachers. That is one of the reasons that I was willing to co-found the "Teacher of the Year" program in Yuma County. My company, at my request, served as the corporate sponsor of this organization for its first few years in order to get it up and running.It is now a model that the rest of the State would like to emulate. I further believe that education is the responsibility of the parent. The schools are the tools that they use to accomplish their end. If they have a problem with that tool then they need to get involved in the classroom or wherever the problem may be to help solve it.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 29, 1998 14:51
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