Education

I am a proud product of the Nevada public school system and am a supporter of our public schools and teachers across the state.

While I believe America's children have unlimited potential, the schools that serve them require significant improvement. America is increasingly losing its global competitiveness, which we must regain through educational curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses.

Our nation is unique in its diversity, its economy, and its vision. Although I do not believe we should pattern ourselves after any other country, it is helpful to look to other countries with well-educated citizens, like Germany and India, to see what successes they have achieved. Some of these successes, particularly in STEM curricula areas, may provide seeds for ideas that could be reworked and implemented for American students.

I also believe that while all teachers should be given a base salary, creating incentive bonuses for teachers that are tied to improved student performance would encourage increased creativity and enthusiasm in the classroom. Better teachers should receive compensation for their skills and additional efforts. 

Such incentives would also encourage well-educated individuals to enter into and to stick with teaching, which will itself promote improved student performance. Ultimately, however, teacher pay is something that schools and local administrators should determine.

I care deeply about the future of our nation's educational system, and that is why I cosponsored H.R. 2514, Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (APLUS) Act. This legislation would allow states to enter into a five-year performance agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Education and would permit them to receive funds that would otherwise be allocated for federal education programs under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Thus, states can opt out of some federal program mandates, permitting state and local educators, with input from parents, to set educational policies that make the most sense for their students. To fix our educational system, we need to empower these local leaders to decide how best to use funds to improve student achievement and to determine what path is best for their students to take.