On the Issues
For families in Dekalb we wonder if our deteriorating schools are a result of fiscal mismanagement by the local school board. I believe the answer to that lies in how we fund our schools. QBE (Quality Basic Education) is a funding formula passed in the 80’s and is still in effect today. The formula uses a combination of student population size called FTE (Full Time Equivalent), Training and Experience, and other weighted metrics to determine annual funding for each district. We need to modernize this formula if we are to become a state with a public education system that is competitive with the rest of the nation.
We have a public health and safety crisis in our state. Like many of you I have faced the challenges of long wait times for first responder response in non life-threatening situations. We already have a shortage of nurses, law enforcement, and paramedics. With the closing of Atlanta Medical Center(AMC) the crisis will further exacerbate the challenges at our local perimeter hospitals since Grady will not be able to absorb all the patients from AMC. Life threatening injuries to our law enforcement, neighbors and to ourselves will now only have one level 1 treatment center to turn to. We’ve lost over 6 hospitals in the last 4 years. We need to make hospitals profitable while providing medical care to every Georgian.
Having opened two small businesses in the midst of a pandemic has been challenging for sure. We’ve been fortunate to navigate a web of resources to help keep us open. Unfortunately, too many small businesses do not have franchise, or some type of corporate HQ to assist them. We lost far too many small businesses over the last 4 years. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, hiring nearly half of Georgia’s workforce. Supporting current small businesses and working to establish new ones must be part of Georgia’s economic development strategy. We can’t rely on focusing solely on recruiting multinational corporations as the only pillar in economic growth.
Gun violence is a complicated, layered issue that isn’t just mass shootings. The solutions to gun violence are equally complicated and layered. Mental health, drugs, and crime. All of these have one aspect in common, and that is poverty. Which must be addressed through education, jobs, and public safety. Until we can solve for the underlying cause of gun violence. We must do our best to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, our children safe in and outside of school. We can accomplish all this without taking away the 2nd amendment. By enacting common sense measures like red flag, and safe storage laws.
It is my hope that no one ever has to make this decision. The reality is the world is cruel at times, and if we are to be a first world leader and set the example of what Freedom looks like. We must understand that the government and no one else has any business in the discussions and decisions a woman has between her doctor and herself. The heartbeat bill written in Georgia is so poorly written that it places the lives of women, careers of medical professionals and financial stability of families at risk. We must do better.