Education

By Elaine (Dugger) Shaw

With the current budget crisis in Washington, we are neglecting our promise to improve our public schools. As the mother of two adolescent daughters, it is important to me that we narrow the education gap between school districts and have more local control in developing the standards for programs and curricula in our schools.

We must have meaningful standards to ensure that all students can thrive in the 21st century. These standards must contain reliable measures to assess the success of schools, teachers, parents and students, and must hold them accountable for results. That is why I support full funding for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which would provide for increased flexibility and local control in schools, expanded options for parents, and stronger accountability for results.

We must reduce class sizes and modernize our classrooms. Under current conditions, our kids are forced to learn in overcrowded classrooms, resulting in less personal attention for each child. Our kids are also being forced to learn in outdated classrooms and with sub-par educational materials. We must do better. Our children will not be prepared for the future if we do not provide the best for them today.

In my meetings with local school officials, many cite the federal government's failure to come through with promised funding as a major problem in education.

For example, the government must meet its obligation to provide funding for special education programs. In 1997, Congress mandated that each school district provide an increased level of support to children with special needs pursuant to IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. With IDEA, Congress promised to share the cost of special education with the local school districts by covering 40% of the expense with federal funding. However Congress has failed to fulfill its promise.

This unfunded mandate puts a stranglehold on our school districts and forces our local school boards to make up the funding shortfall by diverting money from other essential school functions and programs, such as class-size reduction, school building renovation and extra-curricular programs. Under the current system, both special education programs and other school programs are shortchanged. This is why I support full federal funding of IDEA.

Early childhood programs, such as Head Start and quality pre-school programs, build an early foundation for success in our kids' education. The federal government needs to play a larger role in supporting and funding these gateways to achievement. Yet not all children are given access to early childhood education programs. I support increased funding of these programs so that we may give all of our children an equal opportunity to succeed in school.

We need to meet the increasing demand for more vocational training and adult re-training programs in our schools. Partnering with business and labor, students will learn the skills they need to meet the needs of the growing and changing job market, and will be able to fill the highly technical and demanding jobs of tomorrow.

My top priority is to ensure that our schools are the envy of the world through these reforms. My kids, and your kids, deserve nothing less.