What we stand for: education
We are advocates for universal pre-K to 12 public education. And while there may be students who thrive in other settings, we believe the best format to deliver this education for most students is live, face-to-face, in public schools, with a certified teacher in the room.
We believe equity – in funding, in hiring, in curriculum, in school management and discipline, in educational resources – is a primary value of public education.
We believe public school teaching is one of the most important professions and we believe teachers should be paid adequately and receive professional respect commensurate with their responsibilities.
We believe our schools need to prepare students for the rapidly changing 21st century workforce and the challenges of the world we are leaving them. Educational options should include a strong STEM/vocational program and a strong program of foreign languages/cultural understanding. Education for the 21st century should also include skills such as how to handle money/budgeting and a rigorous program of critical thinking.
The original purpose of public education – equipping a literate public in the obligations of citizenship and the knowledge necessary to sustain a democracy – may be more important now than two centuries ago. An effective civics education should include a meaningful understanding of the importance of the constitutional system of checks and balances; the importance of compromise; the concept of federalism; the importance and day-to-day application of the Bill of Rights and the 14th and 15th amendments; the relevance of key legislation and Supreme Court decisions, such as the Civil Rights Act, Brown v. Board, Gideon v. Wainwright, etc.; and the duties of citizenship. Students should also have a meaningful understanding of how government actually works and what tax dollars are spent on.
We believe that, while no parent or group should feel empowered to veto courses of study or educational resources, that parents and taxpayers deserve to understand how their tax dollars are being spent and how their children are being educated. The school districts should operate with maximum transparency and should make information about curriculum, assessments, achievement gaps, discipline, etc., readily available.
We believe that often schools concentrate their efforts on students who are succeeding and allow at-risk students to languish. We believe maximum effort should be put into understanding and eliminating the achievement gap.
In case you missed it
Wanted: education for Citizenship
Transparency needed in our schools