A strong public education system is good for our kids, good for business, and good for Louisiana.
Why is Louisiana at the bottom of every list? If we invest in early childhood education and public education in general, we will reap huge benefits in bringing the jobs of the future to Louisiana and keeping our families together.
Louisiana’s business climate has suffered due to low educational attainment in our state. Only 10 percent of high school students are prepared for training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related occupations (STEM). Without a trained workforce, only 3% of jobs in Louisiana currently are STEM jobs. The good news is that can make lots of progress.
I support strong investment in our public education system. Public tax dollars should support public schools. As we have learned in Louisiana, private school vouchers are not an effective way to improve student achievement.
We must support our public school teachers. They are heroes who shouldn’t have to leave the state to earn a fair wage. Their retirements should be protected by ensuring that we do away with the Windfall Elimination Provision.
Teaching to the test has not benefited our children or our teachers. We should take steps to return autonomy to teachers so they can help our kids love learning, not just perform on tests.