Protecting Education

Thanks to all of you who have been supportive of our television campaign. The positive feedback has been encouraging.

I’ve heard from many Republican supporters who were confused by my vow to protect our schools. My response to them is that the differences in how the Republican and Democratic
parties move NM forward in 2010 couldn’t be clearer. I’ve asked those Republican friends and supporters to review the NM GOP web site to help gain a clearer idea of where I’m coming from and where I
respectfully disagree.

Because how we protect education in New Mexicans is at stake this year. Take school vouchers for example. Clearly school vouchers hurt our schools - taking public money out of public schools to subsidize
the privileged is hard to swallow with so many families struggling right now. So are special tax incentives for the wealthy that choose to send their children to private schools. Both policies deprive our schools of much needed resources.

My next point about education is about more than just schools for our children. People who are out of work and struggling to make ends meet right now need options for fast and effective retraining. Take a look at the GOP web site; adult retraining and vocational training programs are not mentioned as policy options to help struggling New Mexicans.

The path to improving our schools and putting people back to work is NOT found in tax cuts for high end earners and big box tax loop holes.There is no doubt that the budget battles in Santa Fe have come from
both sides of the isle. However it is important to note that during the last session, every Senate Republican voted against the budget bill, thus opposing increasing funding to make up the Education
shortfall. It is my hope as your next Lt. Governor to bring a more balanced approach to state government.

I firmly believe that investing in schools and retraining programs are important steps in preparing our workforce for the future, but our first step is to protect our schools.