While great steps have been taken over the past several years to help improve our public education system, more must be done.

As a product of public education in Oklahoma, I know that whatever successes I have or will have in life are results of the education that I received. I believe strongly that children cannot learn when the buildings they are in are falling down or if there are 50 students in one classroom. Efforts should be made to help our local school districts that maintain or replace the buildings in which are children learn.

Teachers must be able to give the attention which students need to help them learn, class sizes should be reduced to help the students learn and the teachers control classrooms.

At the same time, we must recruit strong people to the teaching profession. We must give them the tools they need and pay them at the rate that they deserve.