As a former teacher at Niles High School, I spent a lot of time trying to create a classroom environment for my students that would prepare them for wherever their dreams lead them.

It’s great when passionate teachers create an environment where inquiry sparks the imagination of their students, but we need more than great classrooms. We need an entire educational system that pushes students to realize their full potential.

For some students a traditional classroom setting may work best, for others they might need a more hands-on experience. Regardless, when you put a passionate teacher in a great educational system in front of kids, good things happen.

If students win, our state wins, and that is why I ran for office. I can confidently say this is a topic both sides of the aisle are passionate about, which is why one of the ways I have been tackling education reform is through the Educator’s Caucus.

The Educator’s Caucus includes Republican and Democratic members who either have a career background in education or have served on local school boards. The caucus operates to ensure that our students and their success are the priority when discussing ideas. One of the biggest benefits of the Educator’s Caucus is that we are taking the time to get to know each other and build relationships. While we certainly don’t all agree on the solutions to issues, we think our students, and the state, are better served by real discussions about how we can improve educational outcomes than by using each other as political punching bags.

Education should not, and cannot, be a partisan issue. The stakes are too high, and the results are too important for that. As legislators with backgrounds and experience in education we have a duty to put aside the petty political squabbles to do what is right for our kids. If we don’t take on the challenge of making things better who will?

The Educator’s Caucus has been newly formed, and we are just now starting to formulate our ideas and plans. However, if you have ideas for education reform you believe should be tackled by the Educator’s Caucus, please let me know by contacting my office at (517) 373-1796 or via e-mail at bradpaquette@house.mi.gov.

As I believe in the importance and necessity of a variety of ideas to achieve the most successful legislation, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Let’s all work together to provide a better education for our children.

Brad Paquette R, represents the 78th District, which covers Berrien county.