Veterans advocate and U.S. Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley (R-WA) today unveiled her “Agenda for Education Recovery and Reform,” the third in a series of policy proposals to give hope to Washington’s children and parents.

The agenda focuses on giving hope to parents, students and teachers through policies that provide more choice, transparency and resources while fighting unfairness, discrimination and bureaucracy in our education system.

“In so many ways, our schools do not meet the needs of our children and grandchildren,” said Smiley. “Despite the best efforts of so many of our teachers during the pandemic, distance and remote learning has shown all of us the holes in our education system. Many of our schools are focused on teaching divisive topics instead of the basics. And the careers of the future don’t match an education system that is stuck in the past.”

The proposals in Smiley’s “Agenda for Education Recovery and Reform” include:

Expanding school choice to ensure low income families who are not part of the rich and elite have equal access to a quality education

Promoting curriculum transparency to empower parents and banning the teaching of divisive ideology like Critical Race Theory from our elementary schools

Creating and expanding K-12 STEM education programs to ensure skills development for the future

Banning the federal government from forgiving student loans in a way that is unfair to those who have already paid off their debts and makes plumbers and hair stylists pay for the loans of lawyers and doctors

Ending the stigma and discrimination against students of all ages who choose not to go to college by expanding trade apprenticeships, on-the-job training and skill certification

Providing teachers (whose average salary in Washington State is $79,000) a pay raise and paying for it in part by reducing bureaucracy at the U.S. Department of Education (where the average salary is $126,000)

“Education recovery means getting back to the basics: reading, writing and math,” Smiley added. “Education reform means making sure parents have a say and a choice in their children’s education. This agenda will ensure that hope is on the horizon for Washington’s students, parents and teachers because our system must work to meet unique needs, talents and challenges of all individuals so they can have a bright future.”

Click here to see the full “Agenda for Education Recovery and Reform.” More policy proposals will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

Original source can be found here.