TO: Dan Soucek, Jonathan Jordan,
I’m writing you because you are my two representatives and I want you to know my opinion on education. I hope others will do the same and I hope you will make decisions based on what your constituents want.
Education should be a top priority of where to spend our tax dollars. I feel it is a public responsibility to provide free education K-12 for all of NC’s residents. The entire system should be administrated by state employees who are responsible to the NC Legislature and in the end the NC taxpayers. Our school systems should not be privatized and paid for with tax dollars. It is a public service for the public, funded by taxpayers.
Education is truly a cause for the greater good that will reap consequences in the future. If we choose to cut teachers, assistants, and their pay it will have very real and very negative effects in the future. A well educated state will provide better jobs, a stronger tax base, and require less government assistance. Simply said you pay for what you get.
If a program, school system, school administrator, teacher, or any state employee is not meeting expectations there should be recourse for that. Bad, non effective employees should be able to be fired (especially in the administration arena). Good, effective employees should be rewarded financially. This judgement should be made by effective well trained administrators and testing. I think you are moving in the right direction here with the removal of tenure. Let’s start to require more of our administrators as well.
Dan, you sent two of your children through the pre-k program at Blowing Rock Elementary school then voted to cut its funding after they were through. If it was not an effective program why would you send your own children to it? I believe it is a worth while program that does a great job getting students prepared for Kindergarten. I do not view it as a charity program for the poor.
Please put the great state of North Carolina back on track in education. Let’s wisely invest in our future by investing in our teachers, assistants, and our children. It’s economically smart to have a well educated population who can sustain themselves. Surely that is something Republicans can be proud to vote for and stand behind.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to be a legislator.
Sincerely,
Kevin Patterson
Boone, NC 28607