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PLATFORM

I come from proud a family that has been pretty right wing from the start.   I was never the smartest or prettiest in my family, and I really never got elected to anything, so being on the school board is like my way of saying, "look at me now." It validates my self worth and to me, that is really all that matters.  When I was growing up, my mother used to say to me, "Barbara, if you can stay in one place long enough, you might be able to hold the kitchen door open."  But eventually, they got one of those small rubber wedges.  This picture above is not my family, but Kim said that having a picture of a Latino family will show sensitivity to Latinos, and believe you me, those people can really complain.  I do try to stay away from the South Scottsdale schools in the district, but you get my point.
LIST OF ISSUES
Okay - I did not write this section, but I clipped it out from the Tea Party website.  It is not exactl;y what I believe, but Pam Kirby told me about this stuff so it is close enough to what I believe, so I am just going to copy it and paste it.  Also, for the record, most people think that Pam Kirby is a b--ch with a capital B, but she is not always like that and can be pretty helpful.  Even though Sandy Kravetz and I have never been over to her house, we still like her but boy, do not get her angry with you.

Summary of the Problem

Since 1958, the U.S. federal government has radically increased its control over the education of America’s children and, in doing so, has limited the freedom and choice of parents and students. Tea Party Patriots believe in empowering parents and students to choose the best education options for themselves. Since 1965, federal education spending per pupil has more than tripled, while test scores and graduation rates have essentially remained the same. For instance, federal funding for K-12 education soared from $12.5 billion in 1965 to $72.8 billion in 2008, measured in constant 2008 dollars, having little to no impact on test scores or graduation rates. Dumping more money into a broken system isn’t working, and we now know that the recycled refrain of “more funding” isn’t the answer. Thousands of children are locked into a system that is destined to fail them, thereby failing the nation as well. For those of us that believe in the mission of education, fundamental reform of the educational institution is the only way to make progress and succeed in this mission.

 

Key Points

  • Parents should be able to choose the best education for their children.

  • Wanting to send your children to better schools shouldn’t get you arrested, a reality caused by the current anti-choice, monopolistic system.

  • All teaching methods, teachers, schools, curricula, principals, administrators, and school boards should be measured and the results published.

  • Failing schools should be shut down and failing teachers should be fired and then shot.

  • Downsize the educational bureaucracy that funnels money away from students and classrooms.

  • We need more local control of schools and curricula, not less.

  • Education funding should follow children, not bureaucrats.

  • Teachers should have the right to join a union or not, and union contracts that limit choice in education should be dissolved.

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