Dale Klemme Wednesday on Education and Youth Issues

We have a responsibility to provide an education system that will enable our children to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Every child should have the opportunity to pursue the American dream and in order to succeed they need a solid foundation from which to build upon. As your State Representative, I will fight to strengthen our public education system through higher standards, greater accountability, and providing our children with the necessary tools to succeed in the real world.

Click Read More for details on funding and teaching issues.

Funding

Locally we fund education with property tax. Over time the state has exempted or discounted approximately one-third of the local property from property tax. That’s fine for those with the exemptions, but who winds up paying? You know the answer to that – you and I.

It used to be that employing people and being in business meant big buildings and new property taxes. The trend now is toward service sector jobs – less building, less property tax base, but greater educational needs for workers. The way we do business has changed, but the way we finance education has not.

As long as we rely upon the present system of funding education, we have some work to do.

Teaching

People want value for their tax dollars. As a taxpayer, I don’t mind paying for services, as long as I am receiving value for the dollar. That means we need to constantly re-examine how we operate to make sure it is most cost effective.

We need to make sure we are implementing effective teaching techniques to reach the children of today, and that we are teaching them the skills to meet the workplace needs of tomorrow.