Education

A quality education is the foundation for success not only for our children but also for our nation’s future.  In order for students to succeed, it is critical that our schools provide a specialized learning experience that is unique to the diverse communities that exist throughout the country.  Federal law prohibits a national curriculum and education matters are best handled at the state and local level.  Parents, school boards and local communities know our children’s needs best and should all play an essential role in making fundamental decisions that affect our children’s development.

America should be the world’s leader in every area of industry and innovation.  To achieve that standard in an ever-changing global marketplace, our students need access to the world’s best education system.  It is clear from the data that we are missing the mark.

We are continuing to lose ground to other industrialized nations because we are lagging behind in preparing our students to be leaders and innovators.  According to the latest study by the National Center for Education Statistics on international student assessment (among 65 nations), American high school students ranked 36^th in math and 28^th in science.  Even worse, over a million students drop out of U.S. high schools each year.  These numbers are unacceptable.

“I consider knowledge to be the soul of a republic, and as the weak and wicked are generally in alliance, as much care should be taken to diminish the number of the former as of that latter. Education is the way to do this, and nothing should be left undone to afford all ranks of people that means of obtaining a proper degree of it at a cheap and easy rate.”
—John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States

While the Constitution is silent about education, it does provide some guidance in the 10^th Amendment:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

Our Founders did not enumerate a federal government power over education and the establishment of a national curriculum has been illegal since 1965 when the federal government first attempted to regulate and finance education.  In fact, the federal government’s involvement in education has failed to improve America’s standing in the world.  As such, it is the purview of the states, parents and local school boards to handle such matters—not bureaucrats in Washington D.C. 

I am proud that Arizona has led the nation in incorporating this philosophy and enrolled students in more than 500 different charter schools throughout the state, accounting for approximately 10 percent of the total student population.  Charter schools have a proven track record and are successfully preparing Arizona students for higher education as well as equipping them with the tools they will need to thrive in today’s workforce.

We need to thoroughly reexamine how we administer education in America.  It is far past time that we replace our current system with one that empowers educators, parents, school boards and local communities; this is the only constitutional way to deliver these services. To that end, I will continue to do everything in my power to return education maters to the local level.