Education

I believe Alabama can and must provide the very best education from pre-K through college and beyond. We are still not fully funding pre-K: if other states can do it, so can we. I see no reason why Huntsville schools should not be the best in the nation. That is an achievable goal. If we can put a man on the moon, we can do this!

 

• I don’t believe it’s right to give up on public schools and spend your tax dollars building up the private education sector. I oppose any expansion of the Choose Act. It’s not the role of government to build private schools: it’s the role of government to provide the very best in public education, free to all students. Let's at least take that voucher money and get rid of the waiting lists for Pre-K: that's an easy fix everyone can agree on.

 

• The two-percent pay raise for teachers this year is unacceptable. This is substantially below inflation and Alabama already ranks 33rd in the nation in teacher pay. The Legislature can stop funding corporate site development projects with education dollars - yes, they did that! - and do something concrete to help our schools. Huntsville City Schools had 13% turnover in teachers last year and 19% turnover in support staff. Teachers deserve real support, not a token gesture at election time. When the Legislature chooses to spend $4.5 million for a special election just to get political power, or waste two days of debate on renaming the Gulf, instead of spending that money on teachers and using their time to find more money for teachers (the money's there: see below), then it's time for these folks to be replaced. I will make education my top priority, not partisan politics. 

 

• The legislature has blown through billions of dollars given to them in the last few years through the American Rescue Plan, with no thought to the future. Now those funds are gone and they are talking of a "looming fiscal cliff". Whose fault is that? You can't talk about fiscal responsibility if you waste a surplus like this. I understand managing resources to build for the future: that's what every business has to do to be successful. 

 

• The Choose Act is siphoning off $250 million from public schools next year. Even worse, after 2027 the income cap for Choose is being removed, and schools may lose as much as $500 million. Hundreds of millions more of your tax dollars earmarked for education are being diverted to the general fund, in hidden in data center bills, or bargained away in "agreements", like the one that diverts most of the online sales tax revenue, including even Door Dash deliveries - away from education, possibly in violation of the Alabama Constitution. I will work to restore this money to education, where it belongs. 

 

Finally, we must ensure we have the necessary programs in place to train our workforce for the jobs we want to attract. This is key for business recruitment, and is going to be increasingly important in a world where AI is being actively deployed to reduce employment opportunities. But we must ensure these programs truly benefit our students and do not end up using education money to actually lower employment wages or restrict promotion opportunities once in the workforce.