Unleash Learning
Academic freedom led by parents and local communities is the way to unleash learning. We trust teachers and schools with our children. We should trust them with curriculum too. The top-down micromanagement approach from Cheyenne to the classroom is not providing the results we need by adding more regulations, restrictions, and standards. Such actions increase expenses, teacher stress, and the size of administrations, but not proficiency rates.
Trusting our Professional Educators
A great education starts with great educators, but they have to be allowed to do their jobs. Classroom innovation, individualized education, and student success are led by our teachers. No elected official or bureaucrat can legislate, direct, or mandate success. We must support it.
Wyoming faces news challenges with AI, social media, classroom management, and student mental health. I'll work directly with teachers, principals, superintendents, and school boards to address these challenges, because the collective wisdom of our professionals far exceeds what any state agency can muster.
I've worked as an educator and an administrator with students ranging from fifth grade to graduate school. Through the Education and Recalibration committees, I've gotten to see up close the challenges of districts, teachers, and everyone who works with students. I know we have to let teachers teach without unnecessary added burdens from the state. Their jobs are hard enough.
FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
The Right Man at the Right Time: A Lifelong Educator
Tom Kelly's first job was a summer day camp counselor, and that's where he learned his affinity for guiding children and communicating with parents. He went on to become a special education para while earning his teaching certification. He spent a decade working in public schools as a para, a classroom teacher, and a special education teacher. During this time, he earned a Master's degree in Education before deciding to pursue his PhD in political science.
For the last eleven years, he has been the Chair for the Department of Political Science, Public Administration, and Public Policy at American Military University, an HLC accredited institution serving those who serve. He's also recently served as a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives working on the Education Committee and the Recalibration Committee.
TOM KELLY
01
EXCELLENT STUDENT EXPERIENCE
A key to students having the best experiences in school is to have great teachers who are not overburdened with duties beyond teachings.
Teachers must have the agency to allow children the opportunity to succeed and to fail. Emphasis on graduation at the expense of proficiency does not prepare the next generation for the world.
Also, overreliance on AI and technology can impede both student learning and relations among peers and with teachers. That's not to mention that pencils, paper, and books have become underrated.
Top Priorities
02
LOCAL CONTROL AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
To help promote the experiences of students, those who know the students best should lead the way with school structure and curriculum.
State-mandated curriculum, standards, and reports can result in the negative effects of micromanagement. It should be up to local communities to guide the academic direction of districts and schools. For instance, parents in conjunction with school boards, superintendents, and principals can better determine than a state agency how heavily to lean into college preparation or career & technical education.
03
DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS
Ultimately, the most local control is the family. Parents and guardians entrust their children to local schools, but they do not give up their rights to make decisions for their children.
While the school and district levels should take the lead on developing and delivering curriculum, parents and guardians are in charge of how children are raised. Unless concerns rise to the level of mandated reporting, school personnel must seek parental consent to address any personal student issues at school, especially if mental health is a concern.
04
REDUCE REGULATORY BURDEN
Standards and goals are necessary, but too many standards become simultaneously burdensome and counterproductive. Wyoming has 32 pages of standards for kindergarteners. They include standards for cultural diversity and computer technology.
Yet by third grade, only about half of Wyoming public school students are proficient in reading. Recently, the state has enacted a literacy law that puts more power in Cheyenne and creates more requirements for our teachers. This is the opposite direction needed.
State Boards (SBLC and SLIB)
The primary duties of the Superintendent expand beyond implementation of state law and the construction of rules to refine policy. The Superintendent is also a voting member on the State Board of Land Commissioners (SBLC) and the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB), which are tasked with managing the State of Wyoming's significant assets. The SBLC must make decisions that will result in "(1) long-term growth in value, and (2) optimum, sustainable revenue production." The SLIB makes decisions on investments, grants, and loans.
As a member of these boards, I will analyze and assess judiciously proposals to meet the mandated purposes of the boards. You'll find that I will perform neither as a rubber stamp nor as a consistent antagonist to proposals. Every investment, grant, and loan decision will be weighed as to how it affects my family and yours.
Finally, I understand the value of intelligent and disciplined investment. Investments must be evaluated on their merits in undistorted market value. In other words, I will resist any "investment" that is based on federal subsidies of printed dollars and deficit spending. Such programs can and do end instantly, which would leave us holding the bag.