2. Forget after-school mentoring programs which most parents use as free babysitting. (Money saved).

3. Go back to the Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic formula of teaching our students and do away with the hideous Common Core formula which has amounted to nothing more than a generous slush fund for Pearson Education. (Money, Time and Effort saved).

4. Hire teachers with specialized degrees in their fields, such as math, English, history and science — not simple certification proving nothing more than they can take a test. (Hiring the best of the best for our students.)

5. Get rid of district-made and state-made overtesting (FSA, EOC’s, etc.) and trust the teachers you have hired to come up with tests for these students — you know, this is what they do in college.

6. Offer real trade-school type education for students who are not academic scholars or for those students who are but want to learn a skill as well — not just a quick little lesson in the library, media center or innovation center (whatever they are calling it nowadays).

We need real reform in public education, but it does not start with spending more money. Let’s use what we have already been given wisely!