Phil Isley

These are things that I would like to see.

 Energy

Transiton from oil and gas to electricity

School Issues

1.  Gun safety taught in school would save young lives.

2.  A proficiency test for every grade for every quarter.  It is not right to wait until high school graduation to identify problems.  Identify problems and address problems continually.  The sooner the better.

3.  Teach parenting in high school.  I feel this is the single most important thing we could do in the school system.  Not only does it teach the children about themselves, it prepares them for a family.  In two generations their would be significant improvement in our society.

4.  Streamline administration and focus on students and teachers.

5.  Drug testing.

Energy

     We are currently dependent on oil and gas.  We have the resources for massive amounts of electrical energy.  If we were thinking ahead, we would systematically develop electrical power to be completely converted in twenty years.  We could use wind like Denmark, hydro like Sweden, and geothermal like Iceland.  We could also develop tidal power, solar energy and pioneer hydrogen to replace natural gas.  We have all the resources at our finger tips and the funds from oil, gas, and coal to develop electricity.

     Our State has become addicted to oil money which allows oil companies to manipulate our economy and politics.  We are much like a drug dealer that is hooked on their product; totally relying on our supplier to stay alive.  With renewable electric energy, we could begin to develop new industry that was not dependent on oil revenues. 

Education

     To improve our system, we should test each student in every grade at every quarter.  This would identify problem areas and provide time to correct them prior to moving on to the next grade.  Our system is focused on slow learning that holds many students back.  A rigid exam at each quarter would allow some students to progress faster than others in some subjects while working on deficient areas at the same time.   This would reward progress while addressing problem areas for each student.  Currently, if a student gets a poor or new teacher in one or all of the first three grades, they start with a weak educational foundation which causes them to fall further behind.  Frequent testing will solve this problem.

     With new technology, we should be able to develop classes in every subject from kindergarten through college.  These classes should be available on the internet for everyone to use.  It would assist parents and teachers in addressing problem areas and allow drop outs to prepare to reenter the school system.  It would enhance our educational system by standardizing instruction, providing a means to address individual student problem areas, reduce education costs, benefit rural areas and support home schooling.

Economy

We need to diversify our economy.  By developing new ways to generate electrical power we could promote new industry with cheap power.  If we started recycling glass, plastic, paper and steel, we could collect fees to take garbage and transform it into new products to be shipped all over the world.  It is a largely untapped market.  What if we sold hatchery salmon to the U.S. Government for foreign aid to countries with starving populations?  The possibilities are endless.