Issues

Our public schools are the bedrock of our community, our state and our nation.  There is no more important investment we can make in our community than our public schools.  We must do better to provide the best possible education for our children.  Here are the major areas in need of improvement and what I would do:

DYSFUNCTION

The current dysfunction both within and between the county commission and board of education is simply unacceptable and is harmful for our community. Rural communities must be relentlessly  collaborative to overcome size disadvantages; unfortunately, our current elected officials show neither the inclination nor the capability for the give-and-take of productive collaboration. I will constantly work to build bridges, formulate solutions, and generate the trust which fuels healthy collaborative activity. It will be a long road back and won’t happen overnight – which is why we must start now!

BUDGETING PROCESS AND COMMUNICATION

North Carolina school districts have no taxing authority; their funding comes entirely from what federal, state, and local governments choose to provide. Therefore, school districts must be world-class at both formulating budgets and communicating these budgets to citizens and other elected officials. No other candidate matches my financial expertise, nor my experience in communicating budgets and financial matters in understandable language. I will work to transform how Transylvania County School system prepares, communicates and promotes its budgets and local funding requests, to ensure that our students have all they need!

PLANNING AND VISIONING

Transylvania County elected officials haven’t valued planning. As a result, their actions are simply an unending series of ad-hoc reactions to the problem of the day. This is foolish in any enterprise, but it is fatal for rural elected officials who, because of disadvantages of size, must be smarter and more systematic – not less! The utter failure of the bond initiative is a glaring example of poor planning, poor flexibility when the original plan proved unfeasible, and poor execution ever since. This must stop! Our decisions and actions must be guided by a coherent vision of what an excellent education is, and what is needed to achieve that vision. I will insist on thoughtful planning and tying all actions to a common, understandable, achievable vision!

TEACHER SUPPORT

Retaining and recruiting quality teachers is the foundation for our students’ success, and this is especially crucial right now, as we face a wave of teacher retirements. This issue is always framed as a pay scale concern, and we absolutely should advocate for increased pay for our teachers. But it is just as much an issue of respect for the honorable profession of education, and the dedicated professionals who choose to make it their life’s work. TCS should have true teacher-administrator collaboration on operational matters.  And though this might seem so obvious that it shouldn’t need to be said: elected officials must be willing to repudiate unfounded accusations from politically motivated individuals or groups. The current board has shown no such courage.