Issue Position: Preserving Public Education

Issue Position

K-12 Education

Quality public education should be the top priority of the legislature. But instead of investing in educational opportunities for our public school students, many legislators voted to cut per pupil expenditures, freeze teacher salaries, and adopt additional burdensome standardized tests.

An investment in our teachers is an investment in our children, our future workforce, our employers and our economy. If elected to serve as your representative, I will fight to raise teacher pay to the national average (as a start), give local school districts the resources they need to educate their students, and I will work to ensure that any testing requirements mandated by our legislature are data driven and results-oriented for the benefit of the students and not just to simply test for testing's sake.

Community Colleges & Universities

North Carolina's community college and university systems are proven engines of economic growth, job creation, and innovation. Our public institutions develop new technologies, explore emerging industries, and attract capital investment from around the globe. Without continued investment in post-high school education, our state simply cannot be economically competitive in the future.

The most recent state budget cut $66 million from our state university system and $16 million from our community college system. These cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, decreased course availability, and tuition increases. The recently adopted tax plan eliminates deductions for college savings plans, further burdening college bound students and their families.

As a proud graduate of two of our UNC system institutions, I understand the impact our universities have on this state. I will work to improve funding for our colleges and universities and to restore tax deductions that help students and their families pay for college. I will push for resources and public-private partnerships that enable our community colleges to create training and re-training programs designed to give N.C. employers the skilled 21st century workforce we need. Our university system must be able to recruit and retain world-class faculty and I will strongly support legislation that enhances their ability to do so. Investment in these centers of learning is a vital component to our state's long-term economic success.

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