The endorsements are rolling in. Today I received the endorsement of the Arizona Education Association. John Wright, AEA president, says in his letter:

“Our recommendation is based on your support for the students in our public schools and the public school employees who serve them.”

I feel very humbled by this endorsement because teachers and support staff have always been so important in my life, from my public-school-teacher parents to the dedicated teachers and staff at my daughters’ public schools.

We need to honor our children and our schools with higher pay for teachers, smaller class sizes for individualized attention, increased access to technology in the classrooms, continuing teacher training, and equalized funding for all public schools in all neighborhoods.

We don’t need to legislate curriculum; we need to respect our teachers and then get out of their way. We need to treat our teachers as the professionals they are, and let them use their skills to do what they know best–help every child become the best student he or she can be. That’s how we will nurture the brightest kids in the country.

I’m honored to have the AEA as a partner as we look ahead to the 2007 legislature.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Arizona's Future, Events, Respecting Citizens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.