Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

The focus of our education system should be students, and providing them the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed. Everything else should take a back seat to this goal. The best education system is a local one. Parents, teachers, and administrators in every school district should be empowered to make the important decisions that govern education, with only limited intervention from the state. Local districts are burdened with a number of unfunded mandates that cost valuable public resources with questionable benefits. Not only do mandates harm local districts, but so does the diversion of funding from Southern Illinois toward supporting the City of Chicago's failing school system. The recent education funding bill that was passed, despite a veto from the governor, contained a $200 million dollar block grant for the city as well as $221 million to support their pension system; both of which amount to a bailout of Chicago schools.

State-funded higher education must refocus on delivering on core educational objectives and doing so affordably. State universities, once broadly accessible to middle class families, have become utterly unaffordable and the tuition that students pay is consumed by administrative costs that yield minimal classroom benefits. Through the budget process the legislature can and should exert more control and oversight of university funding, demanding greater accountability from school administrators. I also strongly support expanding access to community colleges and vocational schools across the state for those students seeking to pursue careers in the trades. Strong institutions like Kaskaskia College offer exemplary vocational education programs that are clamoring for students to pursue high-paying careers in the trades. Skilled workers are the strongest asset that any economy can have and the more local access to vocational training Illinoisans have, the better the state will be.

Energy

I strongly support efforts to develop the state's abundant coal, oil, and natural gas to create quality jobs and grow the economy. Southern Illinois has more proven BTUs in its coal reserves than Saudi Arabia does in its oil fields and to write off this abundant source of energy is short-sighted and deprives our state and our workers the opportunity to prosper. State government has placed roadblock after roadblock in the path of energy companies who are seeking to invest in Illinois infrastructure and employ Illinois workers, negatively impacting Southern Illinois communities and families in a major way. I will be a strong proponent of Southern Illinois energy, fighting to create thousands of new jobs while bringing down the cost of living for our families.

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