Education

Note: As Mae Schunk's biography shows, Jesse's running mate is a career educator. Jesse picked Mae as his running mate because of her strengths in education. Jesse's positions on education were developed with a heavy reliance on Mae's expertise in this field.

Jesse knows taxes and public finance. He knows how to get things done in government. Mae is strong in education and knows what needs to be done to improve the quality of education in Minnesota. Education is a top priority for both Jesse and Mae. Together, "The Body" and "The Teacher" serving as Governor and Lt. Governor will address education in Minnesota as outlined below.

General Overview

Schools are top-heavy with administration costs that can and should be cut to ensure that we are providing our children with the education that they really need. Curriculums should be reviewed to ensure that the classes being taught are relevant, educational and applicable to the children's lives. Pouring more and more money into the school system is not the answer, if it doesn't fix the problem. Overall, Minnesota's schools are among the best in the USA, but recent test scores show that there is still room for improvement.

Student/Teacher Ratios In The Classroom

See Position Paper on this topic.

Computers and Internet

I support the current initiatives to provide computer and Internet access for all of our public schools. The public/private cooperation that is currently in effect to lay the cable network to outstate Minnesota is an example of how the State can effectively work with private businesses to everyone's advantage.

Mainstreaming Disability Students

Mainstreaming students with disabilities into the public school system is generally a win/win situation. My daughter has a disability and I have seen only positive results from her being mainstreamed into the regular schools. There may be some situations or a few students with disabilities for whom mainstreaming is not in their best interests, but I believe those cases are few and far between.

Busing

Desegregation Busing

We have tried desegregation busing, and found it did not work. I say get rid of it. We need to return to having neighborhood schools. Every individual in Minnesota has a choice in where they live. By making the choice of where they live, they should be making a simultaneous choice of where their children will be attending school. Neighborhood schools encourage pride in school teams, students and the neighborhoods. They create harmony. If you are living, working and attending school in your own neighborhood, you will be more likely to know your neighbors, take care of your residence and watch out for each other.

School Bus Seatbelts

Installing seatbelts on school buses could save lives and reduce the number and severity of injuries. We have improved school bus safety in every other way; let's stop overlooking one of the most basic. Car seatbelts save thousands of lives every year. If a school bus seatbelt saves even one life, it is money well spent.

School Bus Monitors

In addition to putting seatbelts on the school buses, I believe we should put a monitor on each bus. The monitor would help supervise the students, leaving the driving to the bus driver. To find a monitor for each school bus, we could create a volunteer base made up of parents, retirees, concerned citizens and neighbors. Another potential base of volunteers could come from welfare recipients in need of basic job training skills. There are ways to work this out. If we are innovative and put our minds to it, we can do it.

Standardized Testing

Schools should be teaching all of our students certain minimum standards, such as basic reading, writing and mathematical skills. We should keep governmental interference into our schools to a minimum. We should have no unfunded mandates from the federal government, and any skills testing should be done at the local level. The Federal government should stay out of our local schools unless there is a situation so bad that it is declared a disaster, each school is and should continue to be unique. The classes that each school offers its students beyond the basics may not be of equal value to all students. Teaching should not become synonymous with fast food franchises. We must allow teachers and schools to teach students in their districts the courses that will benefit them the most.

Vouchers

I am a proud product of the Minnesota public school system. Instead of giving families vouchers, tax credits or deductions to help their children get into private schools, I believe we should be supporting our public school systems. A recent survey showed that 72% of the respondents preferred improving public schools to vouchers. 21% wanted vouchers and 7% were unsure. When a good system becomes inefficient or ineffective, the best solution is not necessarily to just get rid of the system. The best solution is to identify the problem areas and promptly implement solutions to fix them. Instead of bashing our public school system, we should be identifying what works and why it works. We should then be copying or adapting that solution in the problem areas. If the parents, businesses and communities all work together to support our teachers and schools, we can conquer the problems.

Business and Higher Education

Industry and business should be asked to make provision for student jobs and some on-the-job training. If a student worker looks promising, there could be consideration for grants to further that student’s education. The student could be encouraged to make a commitment to stay with the company for a pre-determined amount of time, so the company could feel confident that they would be recouping their investment. If the student chooses to leave before the time commitment had expired, he or she would accept responsibility to repay a pro-rata share of the sums the company provided for education.

Business/education partnerships with institutions of learning need to be promoted. Business wants educated/skilled workers. More involvement by the business sector in the education field would be encouraging to post-high school graduates.

Student and Family Financial Responsibilities For Higher Education

It is the responsibility of the parents to supplement their children's college education. The student, too, can contribute to his/her education with part time and summer jobs with businesses and industry. There is scholarship and grant money available for those students who do exceptionally well in school. Lower interest loans are also available.

Students should take some financial responsibility for their post-high school education. Few people appreciate things that have been given to them as much as they do the things they have earned. College education should not be a free ride. The student and families should take the initial responsibility. Grants, loans, and part-time jobs should address the next level of responsibility. If the voters are willing to support the cost, the State of Minnesota should accept the final step in responsibility and pay for the student&'s last year of college education. Consideration should be made for disadvantaged students who demonstrate high potential for successful post high school education.

When I talk with students on the campaign trail, and they ask me about State-paid tuition, most come around to my way of thinking when I explain that by paying their own tuition today, they will avoid higher taxes to pay other people's tuition for the rest of their working lives.

Parental Involvement in K-12 Education

Without full parental involvement and support, we will not turn our public schools around. There are multiple ways we can encourage or obtain familial involvement. We can:

Provide meaningful activities for parents, grandparents and senior citizens to participate and be involved in the education of children.
Provide programs for parents that include academic classes, literacy training, early childhood education, children’s health care, and assistance in finding helpful services in the community. Create a community of learners. Provide after-school classes for parents and children to learn together.
Teach parents how to help students with homework and about the importance of communication with the teachers. Encourage parents to read to their children every day.
Encourage and expect parents to be part of the governance process of the school.
Use technology to link parents to the classroom for homework hot lines and for communication between parents and teachers.

Aggressive and Disruptive Classroom Behavior

Aggressive and disruptive classroom behavior interferes with teaching and learning. To avoid and limit this behavior, we can:

Teach conflict management and peer mediation to students starting in Kindergarten through grade 8. Negative comments lead to abusive physical behavior, which leads to fear, lack of motivation to learn and poor achievement.
Develop a systematic procedure for solving disruptive behavior and violence problems.

Prevention of Violence in our Public Schools

Our schools should be a safe place for our children to go to each day. They should not be in fear of weapons or acts of violence. To promote a safe place we can:

Support initiatives that schools and communities take to prevent acts of violence.
Call on parents to be more responsible for their children's behavior and to ensure that their children do not have access to any weapon.

Improving Public Education

We must improve our public schools. Unfortunately, the answer is not as simple as "give the schools more money." What can we do? We can:

Improve student literacy by expecting all children to read by the end of first grade.
Help students develop a firm foundation of learning skills by reducing primary class sizes, grades K-3.
Improve math and science achievement through problem solving in real life learning experiences.
Encourage and enlist greater parent participation in school improvement efforts and in decision making.
Become a community of partners in learning: create a strong sense of responsibility and accountability for teachers, students and parents, provide a variety of opportunities for parents to learn and be involved in their children's education throughout the year.
Encourage more school-community partnerships to provide volunteer tutoring, mentorships, internships and school-to-work programs.
Support and take part in school and community initiatives to prevent acts of violence.
Encourage all high school students to take a class about parenting and family responsibility.
Provide quality time for professional staff development to improve curriculum instruction.
Provide a curriculum that reflects cultural diversity.
Wire every classroom to the Internet and provide staff development for training, effective curriculum suggestions and adequate resources.
Provide opportunity for community service programs that will apply to academic credit for graduation.
Provide more creative programs for all interested students for after school and during the summer.
Develop high expectations.
Act as if we mean it (because we do) when we say, "KIDS BELONG IN SCHOOL!"

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