Priority #4: Education
Our students are not receiving enough instruction in practical skills. We should focus on improving reading outcomes in our youngest students and ensuring that our high school students have robust options for career and technical education. Not all of our students are college bound, but they should all be workforce ready and have the skills to be productive members of our community.
Jesse Bjorkman believes that we must implement higher standards for K-12 education and University admissions. Effective education is a clear factor in improving public safety.
We need to increase opportunities for vocational training and getting our young people into the trades. Students should be educated about paid apprenticeship programs which would provide a debt free career path with high wages and good healthcare.
We must work for education reform which prioritizes robust vocational training, getting civics back into K-12 curriculums, and strengthening school’s focus on educating our kids with life long skills that make them informed and able citizens.
We must prioritize more resources for public schools, public charter schools and homeschool families. This means more opportunity and more choices for students and their families.
Bjorkman’s opponent, a career political insider, proposed a budget that would have closed at least one-third of the schools on the Kenai Peninsula. This would drastically reduce opportunities and options for Kenai students and families.