EDUCATION
Despite nearly 50 years of oversight and interference in local decisions, the federal government has been a failure both in quality and content of education. The 1.28 million New Jersey kids enrolled in public schools greatly suffered in the last two years. Draconian lockdowns and closures only compounded the weaknesses in our educational system. Kids can’t stare at computer screens all day. Many flunked classes or just dropped out altogether. During this chaos, woke indoctrination was snuck into curriculums. Parents have had little say about any of this.
As your Congressman, I will be advocating for a reduction in not only federal red-tape and regulations, but federal control over curriculum. Federal agencies have not only failed to provide all kids with reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, but are indoctrinating them with ideologies corrosive to kids’ spirit, well-being, and intellect.
Instead I will encourage parental involvement. The Biden-Harris administration and Democrats at the local level have been treating parents with contempt, even attempting to label them domestic terrorists for voicing opinions antithetical to woke ideology. Meanwhile, our current representative Bonnie Watson Coleman remains mum. Parents have their kids’ best interests at heart and if they have a role in administerial oversight, there is a better chance students’ needs will be met.
A key aspect of parental rights is school choice. When families can choose where their kids can attend school, educational opportunities will be equalized across the community, no matter the socio-economic level of that student.
The lack of school choice greatly affected me and my family when I was growing up around the New Brunswick area. My mom made many sacrifices for us but perhaps the biggest was moving to the poorest part of a suburban community, next to a trailer park, to give my sister and I a better education. My education there helped me become a self-made man with a successful small business and the confidence to lead and run for public office. I learned from an early age about corruption, and that public funds sometimes don’t go where intended. It’s not the public schools that are failing the next generation of Americans, but some of the people running them.
In addition, as your Congressman, I will work towards increasing and promoting trade schools. I want to see financial literacy classes start as early as elementary school, too. Also, it’s important to give all communities the opportunity to select and elect their school boards. And here we get back to parents again. Parents, not just partisan officials, need a greater role in the process.
When parents are empowered to demand better results and choose where to send their kids, the ensuing competition will incentivize ill-performing school administrators to either shape up or ship out. It is imperative that we do everything we can to ensure that all of our children have access to a quality education to prepare them for the future. As your Congressman, I will help empower and support parents every step of the way. Come November 8th, 2022, please vote for me, Darius Mayfield, for Congressman of the 12th district of the state of New Jersey.