About Public Education!

In 2023, I retired after being a public school teacher for nearly 40 years. Public education is one of my key issues--I am a tireless advocate for schools, students, and education employees. Public education is crucial to the future of our communities, state, and nation; schools and teachers have been under relentless attack from those who wish to make high-quality education attainable by only the wealthiest.

Missouri's school districts deserve to be properly and fully funded. Our tax dollars should not be used for private school vouchers that will only truly benefit a small percentage of students and families, while continuing to drain public school resources. Charter schools should be strictly monitored to ensure that they meet standards commensurate with local public schools.

Education Professionals

Missouri's teachers deserve to be treated like the highly-educated professionals that they are, starting with salaries that don't put our state near the bottom for both new and experienced teachers.

Our education support professionals--paraprofessionals, school nurses, administrative staff, custodians, bus drivers, and so many more-- also deserve wages, benefits, and workplace protections that recognize the hard work they do day in and day out to keep our schools running.

Missouri’s public education professionals have two of the best pension systems in the country in PSRS and PEERS. We must diligently protect those systems from efforts that would interfere with how these systems function and gut the guarantees they provide to education professionals.

Missouri's students deserve curriculum and materials that are developmentally appropriate, historically accurate, and that reflect the diversity they see in the world around them. We should be teaching them how to evolve and thrive in our ever-changing world, rather than focusing on standardized tests.

Missouri schools need a renewed emphasis on social studies—history, government and civics, economics, geography—so students have a better understanding of how our communities, state, country, and world have changed over time, and how we can make a better today and tomorrow for all of us without going backward, without repeating past mistakes.

Social-emotional learning needs to be integrated into school curriculums so our students grow up with a better understanding of themselves, those around them, and those who may be very different from them. Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths as a country, and helping students and families learn about each other so we all feel seen, supported, and welcomed.

Missouri teachers deserve professional autonomy in their classrooms and school libraries. Our teachers are highly-educated and well-trained. They know what their students need and can meet them where they are. They know that scripted curriculum, rigid pacing guides, and unnecessary testing and assessing are not the best ways to teach our children. Teaching is both an art and a science—too often, our teachers are unable to actually teach in a way that they know will best serve the students in their classrooms. Teachers and school librarians should be heavily involved in curriculum and material development and selection, student assessment development, teacher observation and evaluation processes, and any school or district decisions impacting how they do their jobs on a day-to-day basis.

I have been a proud member of the Missouri National Education Association for almost 40 years, including serving six years as Hazelwood NEA President. I'm thrilled to have received Missouri NEA’s support, along with the support of the Missouri State Teachers Association, the Missouri Association of School Administrators, and many local education unions, as well as the support of many current and former education professionals, administrators, and school board members.

I look forward to working alongside those groups and individuals in Jefferson City to fight for public education. I hope to serve on the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, as well as the Children and Families Committee, working to make sure our schools are strong, our students are well-educated, and our education employees are supported.