If the decision to place my name in the gubernatorial election is made, the decision will be grounded in the need for solutions to our current dilemma of Kansas partisanship. Representation must not come at the expense of compromise and educated discussion.
LIST OF ISSUES
EDUCATION
Education is the root of success. If we have failing schools, we have a failing state. Thus we need to ensure that schools can be successful as a means to ensure that the state is successful. A strong future is created on the foundation of a strong education. From 2005 to 2009 our state recognized this fact by steadily matching our student’s work with sufficient funding to make their growth possible.
This trend, however, did not continue into today’s leadership. Unfortunately our schools are facing the largest budget crisis we have ever seen. In conjunction with incentivizing teachers to stay in Kansas, our governor must be responsible for ensuring our kids are able to achieve an exemplary education in both public and private schools.
TJ is one of the state's strongest advocates for our schools. In order to get our state back on track, we must refocus our funding where it matters most - our classrooms. To make Kansas an attractive state for educators, we must reverse this trend by prioritizing public educational funding while also facilitating the growth of private education.
SMART ON CRIME
By 2018, Kansas will have more prisoners than it could ever physically accommodate. While some argue for industrial expansion, TJ believes the solution can be found elsewhere. Forty percent of incarcerated citizens return to prison within 3 years. Continuing to facilitate this cycle only exasperates the issues the state is currently experiencing.
In order to properly address the issue, we must first increase non-prison sentencing options for convicted individuals who suffer from drug abuse of mental illness. Second, we must adjust the mandatory minimum sentence for convicted individuals to find punishments that accurately reprimand the crime committed.
Finally, we must check our justice system to ensure justice is provided to citizens regardless of their race. Minority citizens are nearly 9 times as likely to be incarcerated within the Kansas judicial system - this is almost twice the national average. Systemic flaws cannot be ignored when they are affecting thousands of individuals everyday.