The Issues: Education

Education hits really close to home for me, because I've been there. I've been in the classroom, I've taught, guided, tested, and encouraged students. As a former teacher, there are two items that I am especially passionate about: individual progress and parent involvement.

Let's start with individual progress, because really it all starts with the No Child Left Behind Act. And while I respect the program and believe that it is important for getting our schools on track, there was something about it I didn't like. At a loss for words I turned to some friends and asked their feelings on education. My friend Kerri sent me this response:

My personal concern is in regards to "No Child Left Behind". While in theory, NCLB was meant to make sure that all children get equal education but how it was implemented was that it burdened an already taxed education system. It has teachers spending as much as half their time testing students to get "scores" taking away time from educating.

I began teaching in August of 2002, a short 18 months after Bush was put in as President, and at the beginning of NCLB. Like Kerri said, the NCLB Act is a good one in theory, but it is too broad. It focuses too much attention on the whole school or whole class, rather than the individual child. Each child is different. In one classroom you can have a huge range of academic levels - one child reading 6th grade level books, while another is still learning letter recognition. It isn't fair to lump the whole class into one group, or mark them as failing when not all the students are. So why would you do that with an entire school? Whatever happened to individual progress reports? And then I read this:

Governor Romney Will Improve Upon And Enhance No Child Left Behind (NCLB). He believes that No Child Left Behind has played an important role in stressing the role of accountability and high standards in improving our schools. Governor Romney will improve NCLB by giving states that meet or exceed testing requirements additional flexibility in measuring student performance. He will also improve the law by focusing more attention on individual student progress, rather than the overall progress of schools.

Finally! He definitely has my attention now!

Secondly, parent involvement. I thrived, and my students thrived, when parents were involved. I could always tell which students had parents involved in their education. It showed. Sending a child to school is important not only for the child, but for the future of our country and ourselves. Learning is not an individual process. I know I was taught many wonderful things by my parents and teachers throughout my years of formal education. And it is important for us to realize that we as adults and parents need to be involved in our own children's education. Parent involvement can be done in a variety ways: volunteering in the classroom or on the PTA, helping with school activities, reading with your child, or making sure homework is done and sent back. I even had some parents come in on Fridays and do a fun game or activity with my students, and they loved it. Because of the awesome parents of my students I had an incredible class, one that was passionate about school. Isn't that what we want? Don't we want our children to be hungry for knowledge?

But maybe my dreams of having a president that encouraged such a thing was too lofty of a dream. Or was it?

Governor Romney Promoted Parental Involvement In Education. Because parents are crucial to a child's success in school, Governor Romney supported measures to empower parents to play a more active role in their kids' educations.

He answered my concerns!

So take a moment and go here to read more about his plans for Education in America. You may get your questions and concerns answered too!

The Issues: Economic Stimulus Plan

If you want to know how best to stimulate the economy, ask someone who has been successful in business. Mitt Romney knows first hand what helps and what hurts businesses, families and individuals.

Some hightlights:

*Individuals - Gov. Romney would permanently reduce the lowest income tax bracket, permanently eliminate payroll taxes on seniors and make middle-class (families making less than $200,000) savings tax free.

*Businesses - Gov. Romney would institute immediate 100% expensing of equipment for two years and permanently reduce the corporate tax rate.

*Make the Bush Tax Cuts Permanent (FINALLY!)

*Oppose any Increase in Social Security Taxes

*Prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) from hurting American Families.

To see Governor Romney's Economic Stimulus Plan in its entirety, go here.

The Issues: Health Insurance

As a young mom, with young children, and knowing that I will have more children in the future; the thought of health care these days is almost frightening. However, a certain governor from Massachusetts enacted a plan that was put in motion to make health coverage affordable and nearly universal for the state. This program was implemented the end of 2006, and by May of 2007 nearly 100,000 of those who were uninsured, had gained affordable coverage. You know that governor as Mitt Romney.

From the official Mitt Romney website:

"Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all, government-run system, we must recognize the importance of the role of the states in leading reform and the need for innovation in dealing with rising health care costs and the problem of the uninsured. By expanding and deregulating the private health insurance market, we can decrease costs and ensure that more Americans have access to affordable, portable, quality, private health insurance."

You can read more on his plan for reducing health care costs here.

Praise For Romney's Tax Plan

Mitt Romney's Smart Tax Plan

Investment-friendly tax cuts, not one-time rebates

by Nicole Gelinas, City Journal

"Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney made a respectable showing in Tuesday's Florida primary, and that's good news for Americans worried about the home-mortgage meltdown and their tax bills.  Unlike Washington politicians, vying to outdo one another printing money to rescue Americans from falling home prices, Romney has proposed a bold long-term tax policy that would encourage Americans to choose their investments, both housing and otherwise, more wisely...."  

For the rest of the article - go here.  To see Governor Romney's Tax Plan, go here.