Moving Georgia's Public Education System from Austerity to Prosperity

I salute Governor Deal in his move to fully fund public education in Georgia.  For the first time in sixteen years, we will have a budget that doesn’t include an austerity cut based on the 1985 QBE funding formula.
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As this move will help education to continue its upward trend within our state, we must endeavor to sow success in order to reap greater results.  In order to gather this educational harvest, I will work with our new governor and legislature to accomplish the following:

Elevate Our Educators
1. Ensure that austerity cuts do not return -- fulfilling our constitutional and moral obligation. 
2. Raise the salaries of our teachers -- remaining competitive and supporting those who dedicate themselves to our students.
3. Create a fair and meaningful evaluation system -- one that continues to de-emphasize high-stakes testing while focusing on professional growth and development.
 
Accelerate Student Opportunities
1. End the one-size-fits-all approach to education – provide meaningful options for graduation, testing, and accountability that support teaching and learning while recognizing the unique priorities of our students and communities.
2. Create new ‘Opportunity to Learn’ funding – additional funds specifically for supporting and growing fine arts, STEM/STEAM, career pathways, ag, AP/IB, computer science, personal finance, and even physical education and recess in our schools.
3. Ensure a strong foundation of the fundamentals – mastering literacy, writing, and numeracy skills in the early grades in order to ensure success later on.