The Poythress Plan for Education

The Poythress Plan

Four Steps to Creating a

21^st Century Educational System for Georgia

Step 1: Stop Cutting Education Funding for Public Schools

• Reverse Governor Perdue’s outrageous “austerity” cuts of nearly $2 billion to K-12 education
• Oppose any private school voucher program in Georgia
  
  

Step 2: Protect the Institutions that make Public Education Work

• Safeguard the HOPE Scholarship program
• Encourage increased participation in our outstanding voluntary Pre-K programs
• Support our historically black colleges and universities
• Prevent merger of community and technical colleges

Step 3: Invest in our Educators 

• Seek the advice and counsel of public school educators as significant stakeholders in decision-making regarding educational reforms
• Expand continuing professional development for our state’s teachers
• Preserve fair dismissal procedures for public school employees
• Recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, particularly in math and science
• Maintain current defined benefit retirement system for educators
• Ensure the safety of students and educators in our schools and on buses
• Persuade more Georgians to pursue careers in education in GA
• Push for the official recognition of Veterans Day in public schools

Step 4: Invest in a 21^st Century Education for our Children

• Invest in technology in the classroom to empower teachers to be 21st Century educators
• Expand character education in public schools to reinforce the values of responsibility, citizenship and respect for authority
• Reduce K-12 class sizes, especially in suburban and metropolitan schools, and leverage technology to give teachers more quality/mentoring time with individual students.
• Implement a comprehensive drop-out prevention program
• Promote parental participation in the education of their children
• Sustain the important role of the arts in education
• Work to end the tyranny of "AYP" and high-stakes testing and scrap "No Child Left Behind."  As the son of a Georgia public school teacher, I recognize that teachers are the solution to our education challenges.
• Encourage educational leadership that instills discipline in the classroom, unleashes the creativity of educators and welcomes the community to participate in the life of our schools
• Protect the health of our students by advocating sound nutrition and routine exercise
• Advance the use of local agricultural products by our public facilities
• Provide increased opportunities for vocational and technical education at the high school level
• Increase before- and after-school tutoring and mentorship opportunities

About David Poythress

Lieutenant General (Ret.) David Poythress is the immediate past Commander of the Georgia Army and Air National Guard. He previously served as Georgia's Commissioner of Labor and Secretary of State, and he is a Democratic candidate for Governor in 2010.