Improving Education – Beyond the Money Debate

Education is the key to our future. But all too often the public debate comes down to money: Should we spend more or less of it? While this is an important question, I think we need to get beyond the money debate to talk about how we can best educate our students.

We have great school systems in Shelton, Stratford, and Monroe. However, Connecticut state government can do more to create a flexible education system that recognizes every community, and every student, has different needs.

While we want all students to learn the same things in school, we should let local communities decide how to teach them. Everyone agrees that elementary school students must learn to read and learn basic arithmetic, but can we say that one teaching approach works for every community or every student? As a legislator, I should not tell teachers how to do their jobs. Leave teaching up to the parents and the professionals—not the bureaucrats and politicians. We need to hold students and schools accountable for results, but not dictate how teachers and school boards achieve those results.

We also need to reduce the amount of standardized testing. Currently, the federal “No Child Left Behind” law requires testing kids every year, and so students spend all their time preparing for the tests. Instead, we should test only in grades four, eight and twelve—and the tests should only make sure that students know the basics. If students do not pass these tests, they should be required to take remedial classes or stay back. Reducing the number of tests, focusing on basic knowledge and raising the stakes would give teachers the freedom to focus on the critical thinking skills that students need to succeed.

We should redirect education funding to programs and services that directly benefit students. One school district I represent has seen its central office staff increase from twelve in 1992 to forty-one in 2008. Many of these positions were added because of increased paperwork caused by the state and federal government. For each $100,000 administrative salary we add, we forego hiring two teachers. We need a comprehensive review of the administrative burden the state puts on school districts so we can eliminate these costs.

Finally, we need to eliminate unfunded mandates. Unfunded mandates occur when the state tells towns they must do something, but does not pay for it. The cost of mandates is paid by local taxpayers and does not always benefit students. For example, we passed legislation requiring in-school suspensions at an additional cost to towns.

Improving education is about much more than money, even though money important. I am proud that I was able to help secure a 10-20% increase in state funding for education to Stratford, Shelton, and Monroe. For years, Connecticut had been unfairly cutting education aid to our towns. Led by Governor Jodi Rell, we were able to finally give a sizable increase in education funding to all of our town in 2007 and 2008. Even in the current tough budget climate, I am committed to maintaining the gains we have made in state funding in our current budget.

Having secured additional funding last year, my hope this year is that we can begin discussing how we educate our students. We can go a long way to unleashing creativity and innovation in the classroom if we allow greater curriculum flexibility, reduce standardized testing, focus funds on the classroom experience, and eliminate unfunded mandates. I believe it will be the parents and teachers who will continue to improve education for our students, not the bureaucrats and politicians. If Hartford can be wise enough to get out of the way, we will allow our students to reach their full potential.