Education

As the son of a North Carolina public school teacher, I strongly believe excellence in education is the right of every child. One of the main reasons I ran for Congress was to advance fiscally responsible reforms that would improve educational opportunities from students in pre-K to higher education and beyond. This must be the cornerstone in our fight to create a more prosperous America.

Excessive intervention by the federal government has made it much harder for teachers to help students reach their full potential. This has left us with an education system that is broken, but thankfully, not beyond repair. We can commit to improving education by moving from the bureaucratic-dominated status quo to a reformed system that includes accountability and increased parent choice.

For far too long, Washington has dictated what happens in our classrooms through programs like “Common Core.” Unfortunately, the problems in our education system cannot be fixed with our federal government’s one size fits all solution. I believe we must champion an approach that will return responsibility back to the states, locally elected school boards and parents, the entities that best know what it takes to provide quality education to our children. This is the only way we can equip our young people to succeed in the highly competitive 21st Century economy and become virtuous citizens who will ensure America’s future.

I was honored to be a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce during my first term. I used my position there to ensure that we prioritize our spending on programs that effectively educate our children. During my time on the Education and Workforce Committee, I was proud to cosponsor the House-passed version of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (H.R. 803) which the President signed into law. This legislation consolidates and streamlines workforce development programs, protects taxpayer dollars, and ensures that workers have the skills they need to get the jobs that are out there. I look forward to continuing my work to help unemployed North Carolinians access the skills needed to get back to work and for more comprehensive solutions our education system so desperately need.