Pete’s Principles on Education – Local Control of Schools
AWARDS
Friend of Education Award
by Education Freedom Coalition
Friend of Home Schooling
by Home School Legal Defense Fund
American Freedom Award
by American Association of Christian Schools
I support the local control of education.
We must improve elementary and secondary education by reinstating parental involvement, expanding flexibility, adding competition and eliminating bureaucratic barriers.
Faceless bureaucrats, who don’t know the names of the children in our schools, cannot possibly respond to the unique needs of students in local school districts.
In Michigan, the needs of students in Detroit are different from those in Marquette as well as those in Holland. One set of standards across the board is the wrong approach.
Let's create a system where the needs of our children are put ahead of the needs of the bureaucracy.
Voting Record and Initiatives
Opposed No Child Left Behind. Led a coalition of members against No Child Left Behind in 2001 because it created new federal mandates on local schools.
Education Tax Credits. Education tax credits will empower parents by providing them choice in education. I introduced the Education Tax Deduction for All Act at the federal level that provides a deduction for each child attending a public school equal to 25 percent of the state’s average per pupil spending. Parents would receive a deduction of 100 percent for each child attending private or home school according to the state’s per pupil average.
A-PLUS Act. I introduced the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) Act, which allows states to opt out of No Child Left Behind and its federal mandates. It restores sovereignty to states and local schools and empowers parents and local communities to find innovative solutions to their children’s education needs.
Parents’ Rights Amendment. Proposed a constitutional amendment that ensures parents have the right to educate and raise their children and will not be bested by the government or international law. It has 130 co-sponsors and counting.
