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Education
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Reagan 21 stands for raising the standard on elementary and secondary education by reinstating parental involvement, restoring local control, expanding flexibility and choices, and eliminating the bureaucratic barriers to ensure that every child receives a quality education.
The single greatest influence on educational success is the involvement of parents in their children’s education.
When Congress passed the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, they stripped the ability of schools to innovatively and creatively meet individual student needs. For the first time the federal government was given permission to dictate school curriculum by mandating testing, mandating performance and creating sanctions for schools that failed to meet federal standards.
The unintended consequences of NCLB have led to increased paperwork, teachers feeling pressure to teach to the tests, elimination of subjects not part of the core curriculum and schools trying to restrict certain students from enrolling in their schools for fear that they may negatively impact their ability to meet state standards.
Through NCLB, Washington has severed the bond between parents, local schools and communities making effective education of our children nearly impossible.
We stand for providing students the opportunity to receive an excellent education that permits innovation and freedom from excessive burdens and regulations. We support the return of education to state and local government and we support parental choice. Parents, not bureaucrats, are the most qualified to determine where their child should attend school.
We stand for education tax credits and educational opportunity scholarships that will empower parents. Tax credits give parents and communities the opportunity to contribute directly toward educational needs rather than having their money funneled through Washington and spent on priorities set by government bureaucrats. Opportunity scholarships give parents the tools to choose the school that will best teach and enrich their children.
We understand that the best approach to meeting local educational needs is to eliminate red tape and the ineffective federal government bureaucracy. Congress needs to provide parents, teachers, school principals and communities with the freedom to chart a new course for local schools designed to best meet local students’ needs.
We need to ask ourselves the question: Who will decide the future of our children’s education? Faceless bureaucrats in Washington? Or parents, and local school administrators, who know our children’s names and needs? The answer is clear.
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