Education

Government has no responsibility more crucial than educating its young people. The solution for every problem our nation faces, every opportunity for advancement, every future life-saving invention, depends on our children receiving the very best education from the most qualified teachers in a safe environment conducive to learning.

No Child Left Behind is a laudable ideal but without proper funding, it is just another government program run by Washington bureaucrats telling teachers how to instruct their students. To make the program more than just a catchy slogan, we must provide teachers, parents and administrators with the funding and flexibility they need to respond to students' individual needs. I went to public schools in South San Francisco and received a top-notch education.  In this, the most innovative and technologically advanced nation on earth, no child should receive anything less than an education that strives for individual excellence and fosters a lifelong love of learning.

As I have watched my children move through school, I have come to appreciate that a high-quality learning environment is second only to good teachers in preparing students for a lifetime of educational achievement. Overcrowded, underfunded and deteriorating schools are not the province of urban or rural communities, but infect school districts throughout the nation. Repairing and modernizing schools creates jobs, improves safety and protects the health of students. School districts are beginning to realize that a small investment in making their facilities more energy efficient can pay off for years to come in reduced costs. It is a wise investment for the federal government to provide "seed money" to encourage sustainable, green technologies to take root, not only in wealthy school districts, but nationwide.