EDUCATION
This state must recommit itself to quality public education, because if we don’t, we are setting future generations up to fail. As governor, I would make sure that our pre-kindergarten programs are properly funded so that children get the tools that they need to succeed at an early age and start from ahead, rather than from behind. We need to cut down on classroom sizes so that children can get adequate attention from teachers, and teachers can focus on the individuals as much as the group.
Our teachers and educators have not received a pay increase in four years. We owe it to our state and our future to pay teachers a competitive salary to reward them for their often thankless work and entice the best and brightest people into the field of education.
JOBS
Our community college system is the envy of every state in the Union. I will protect our community colleges and keep them funded so that North Carolinians can have access to the job training and re-training they need in order to get back to work. I will ensure that we maintain a competitive workforce for new businesses to pull from. I will also spearhead the task of recruiting businesses to come into this state and hire the workers we’re training. The Republican-led General Assembly has been cutting jobs by laying off teachers and teachers’ assistants, as well as other public servants. I will put a stop to this. We cannot afford to willingly cut these jobs when they are the very jobs on which our state’s future depends.
ECONOMY
Colleges and universities are an economic engine. They train the workers, provide the jobs, and bring in businesses who want to hire from the pool of people attracted by these educational institutions. We need to respect them for the economic benefits that they bring this state.
With the tools of quality education and the ability to train our workforce, I will work tirelessly to recruit the best jobs to come to North Carolina. I have the experience at the county, state, and federal level to bring both public and private interest to the table to get this state moving again.
