Fixing Education: A Total Overhaul of America's Future

Our education system is failing, and the consequences are severe. For too long, we’ve allowed state-managed education to dictate the quality of a child’s future based on their zip code and their parents’ income. It’s time to face the hard truth: the system is broken, and our students are suffering. We need a transformative, revolutionary approach to education that ensures every American child has a fair shot at success.

The States Have Had Their Chance

Since Reagan, multiple education bills have shifted control to the states, but what have we gained? Declining test scores, widening achievement gaps, and millions of children left behind. The Fairfax County School District, Virginia’s largest, is a prime example of this failure. Fairfax public schools face a $100 million budget shortfall despite generating substantial tax revenue, putting teacher raises and quality education at risk. On the flip side, why should a student in a poor region of the country not have access to the same level of education as those in McLean?

It’s time for a sweeping federal overhaul that guarantees equitable, high-quality education for all students, regardless of their state or income level.

The Proposal: A Unified Federal Education System

First off, this is an optional plan. If a state chooses to not participate, their education will not change. Opt-in states are responsible for half the cost, and the federal government manages the rest. State boards of education are disbanded, and all education employees become federal employees, ensuring consistency and quality nationwide.

Massive Financial Savings for States

States that opt into this plan will save billions. Instead of maintaining broken systems and shouldering skyrocketing education costs, they’ll only be responsible for half the cost per student. For example, if the federal cost to educate a student is $20,000, states pay just $10,000. These savings can be reinvested in critical areas like healthcare, infrastructure, and public safety. Under this plan, school vouchers will no longer exist.

Empowered Teachers, Better Outcomes

Teachers and school staff become federal employees, benefiting from standardized pay, benefits, and training. This shift elevates the teaching profession and ensures consistent quality of education, no matter where a student lives. Teacher pay will start at $85,000 annually, with upward adjustments to reflect inflation and cost of living. Prioritizing our educators is a direct investment in the next generation and our country’s future.

Local Control Within a Federal Framework

While the federal government will set baseline standards and most of the curriculum, localities will have significant input. This approach respects regional differences and needs while ensuring every student across America meets the same foundational requirements.

Regional, Not State Control

This plan creates and empowers regional districts with more control over their education systems, transcending state boundaries that often stifle local innovation. For example, why should Annapolis govern students in Montgomery County while Richmond manages those in Fairfax?

These regional boards have the authority to tailor curricula to meet local needs, whether it’s offering network engineering track in Northern Virginia or farming course in Central Louisiana. However, all districts must meet federal baseline standards and abide by the same policies, ensuring that every student has access to the same opportunities, regardless of where they live.

This plan also addresses issues like those in Oklahoma, where state-mandated curricula clash with local values. By allowing regional control, we can respect local preferences while maintaining a unified standard of education across the country.

Why This Plan Works

By decentralizing control from states to regions, we eliminate the inefficiencies and inequities plaguing our education system for decades. Local leaders who understand their communities' unique challenges and opportunities will have a greater say in shaping education. This system will also prevent power-tripping state legislators from imposing their beliefs on students and families who want no part of it.

Technological Integration

A national standardized digital curriculum will leverage interactive learning tools, AI, and data analytics, ensuring every student has the best educational resources available. This approach improves learning outcomes and offers massive cost savings over current systems by utilizing open-source tools and avoiding proprietary lock-in.

Data-Driven Reforms

Real-time data will track, assess, and improve student performance, teaching methodologies, and resource allocation. Early identification of struggling students allows for prompt intervention, leading to better educational outcomes for all students.

Open Source Materials

High-quality educational materials and software are standardized, eliminating costly licensing fees and ensuring all schools use the same top-tier content. For example, instead of each state or school district maintaining its specific grade book software, we develop an open-source solution that is focused on teachers, not end-of-quarter earnings.

A Practical Curriculum for Life Skills and Career Readiness

The curriculum goes beyond academics to include essential life skills and vocational training:

• Financial Literacy: Teach students how to budget, buy a car, understand loans and credit, and manage their finances.
• Life Skills: Bring back courses like shop, home economics while adding cybersecurity, and resume writing, giving Americans the skills they need to succeed.
• Career Readiness: Offer specialized tracks for students interested in trades like plumbing, welding, programming, and marketing while also providing enhanced coursework in biology for aspiring medical professionals and in literature for those interested in law.

Streamlined Path to College

By ensuring every high school graduate has a standardized baseline of knowledge, we eliminate the need for remedial or pre-requisite college courses, reducing student debt and giving students more time to specialize in their desired career.

Trained and Ready to Work

For those students who don’t wish to attend or aren’t ready for college, high schools now offer focused electives in their junior and senior years, allowing them to enter the workforce with valuable skills in fields like electrical work, plumbing, or marketing. Why are high school seniors wasting time in courses such as

We Must Act, Now

Education must become a top national priority. We have a clear choice: provide a world-class education to every child or accept our decline. Let’s choose to educate, innovate, and lead.

The states have squandered every opportunity imaginable, and now it’s time for the American People to step in and fix the education system. By replacing a fractured, inequitable system with a unified, federally managed education system, we will provide every child with the tools they need to succeed.

Our nation will rise when every student has access to the same resources, every school is held to the same standards, and every teacher is equally supported. The future of our country depends on educated, capable, and confident citizens. We cannot afford to fail another generation.

Let’s choose to educate, innovate, and lead. Let’s make American education the envy of the world.