Six Policies That Could Help Rejuvenate America
Katrina Trinko /
At the Conservative Political Action Conference today in Maryland, politicians took to the stage — and shared policy solutions that could help all Americans thrive. Here are some of those ideas:
Put a Great Teacher in Every Classroom
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“We’ve worked hard to put a great teacher in every classroom,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), adding that “There are studies showing kids with great teachers earn thousands of dollars more on average.”
“Everybody says they’re for great teachers,” Jindal remarked. “But the reality is, look at how we hire, fire, pay, and promote our teachers today.”
“So in Louisiana, we decided to do something about that,” he added. “We said wouldn’t it be special, wouldn’t it be great if we actually hired, fired, promoted, compensated our teachers based on how well students are doing, rather than simply how long the teachers have been breathing in the classroom? We’ve radically changed our tenure laws, our hiring laws, our firing laws, our compensation laws, to link teacher advancement to student achievement.”
Public Sector Employees Should Be Able to Exchange Overtime for More Time Off
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“From our governors in the states to our members in Congress—to the Tea Party groups across the country—a conservative, reform agenda is now taking shape,” said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). “We’re offering a vision. And we’ve got plenty of ideas.”
“Take Congresswoman Martha Roby,” Ryan remarked. “She’s got a great idea: If you work overtime, you should be able to take more paid time off—if you want to—because we believe that working parents know best how to balance their time, and Washington should stop standing in the way.”
Preserve Retirement and Pension Benefits for the Future
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“A few years ago, our pension fund and our public employee benefit fund together was over $130 billion dollars in debt,” Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said during his CPAC speech. “And we put together a plan to do the things that they should be doing here in Washington D.C. on entitlements. Raise the retirement age. End cost of living adjustments. More penalties for early retirement, and more money being put into the system by the people who are actually benefiting from it.”
When Christie attended a firefighter convention, he was booed and so he then told the firefighters, “‘The truth is that if we don’t change these pensions, you’re not going to collect them. That’s the truth. The fact is that for each and every one of you, you may hate me now, but ten years from now, after I’ve made the changes that need to be made and you’re collecting your pension, you’ll be looking for my address on the internet to send me a thank you note for saving the retirement for you and your families.’”
Audit the Federal Reserve
Mario Tama
“We need to audit the Federal Reserve,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “Unaccountable power in Washington debasing our currency, driving up the cost of food and gas and the basic stuff of life is hurting Americans who are struggling across this country.”
Provide School Choice
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“My opportunity agenda understands the necessity of a good education,” remarked Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), after saying that education could help children leave poverty behind. “It believes that kids, not unions, should be the focus of our public education. That parents, and not bureaucrats in Washington, should decide the path of their child’s education. They should be free to choose homeschooling, public schools, charter schools, parochial schools. It should be the parent’s choice. Because when the parents have a choice, the kids have a chance.”
Help Working Families Facing Economic Struggles
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“We have concrete, specific proposals to help lower-income families overcome welfare, improve education and job training, and rescue at-risk communities with too few jobs, too few fathers, and too little hope,” announced Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).
“And we have introduced legislation to rescue America’s working families from the middle class squeeze,” he added. “To make it more affordable to raise and educate their kids, and afford health insurance and a home of their own.”
Nothing here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation.
