Platform
Rebuilding Education in Scotland County
This is where our commitment to Scotland County begins. Jacob Pate is dedicated to restoring vocational and trade education, reforming discipline, and balancing the budget. Join me in Rebuilding Substance in Education and getting back to the foundation that educates and not indoctrinates. Let's work together for a better future for our students and community.
Vocational and trade education
Jacob is committed to bringing back vocational, STEM and trade education opportunities to Scotland County public school system. These programs provide valuable skills and prepare students for successful careers right out of high school. By investing in vocational training, we empower our students while we strengthen our community's workforce. It will improve opportunities to allow students to graduate and go directly into the workforce here at home with a good paying job and career. He believe this is VITAL for a small rural, tier one county like Scotland County. It will allow more job opportunities to be filled and have higher paying jobs to seek out Scotland County for their business. This is the centerpiece of his platform.
Discipline reform
Discipline is crucial for a positive learning environment. His platform includes reforms to promote discipline in our schools. By implementing fair and effective discipline policies, we can create a safer and more focused atmosphere for both students and teachers. Teachers in North Carolina have been leaving at a higher rate out of the public school system, though they make less money and lose some benefits. This is a terrible truth for the public education system and it's mostly due to safety. We must improve discipline within students through elective opportunities such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, teaching de-escalation tactics, and much more. He will make instances of bullying have more consequences and violent outbursts WILL NOT be tolerated in any shape or form. If elected, he will have specific occasional meetings with parents, outside of PTC and have updates on how parents can help. We must build trust again in the public education system, and that starts with discipline at home and in the public education system.
Balancing the Budget
Responsible financial management is essential for our schools' success. He aims to balance the budget, addressing instances of overpayments and ensuring resources are used effectively. A balanced budget allows us to invest in our students' education and provide them with the tools they need to succeed. If elected, he believes an audit must be done to start fresh anew on the school board. We must review programs that aren't working and have no shown improvements and put them on the chopping block. Re-appropriating funding will be crucial to fund more useful programs to signal success for our students here, while keeping the budget balanced so we can improve policy changes and get our students back on track!
Parental Advisory Board
If elected, He will appoint a Parental Advisory Board to work alongside the Scotland County Board of Education. Jacob believe that parents are the primary stakeholders in their children's education and who knows the students better than the parents, right? By appointing this board, fully volunteered at no cost to the taxpayers of the County, we can have a direct connection to the parents and the students & know exactly what their concerns are with their education. He would implement a volunteer board to work as a liazon to the School Board, having (1) parent of a student from every public school in the county. He would require the board to meet once a month, preferably at the COW meetings or the Liazon Committee meetings, and give us an update. They would update the board on thoughts that the students have, how good the administration is doing their job and teachers, and what they believe as parents they would like to see from their School Board members. He believes this would have accurate ideas of changes that they would like to see implemented so we could have the best up-to-date responses in real time from parents, students, teachers, and administrative staff. He believes that would help immensely in decision making for the board. That's why Mr. Pate asks for your vote, so he can make this a reality!