Rep. Braddock Talks Job Creation and Education

Bringing more jobs to Georgia is priority one for Paulette Braddock, R-Hiram, as the Georgia General Assembly continues to tackle the state's pressing issues.  She says that education reform is a close second.

Braddock is a freshman representative, having assumed office Jan. 11. Before entering Georgia politics, she served on the Paulding County Board of Education. She serves on the Committee for Economic Development and Tourism, as well as the Committee for Children and Youth. 

According to Braddock, one of the key developments the state of Georgia needs to consider in order to promote job growth is that of transportation.

"We've got to have a comprehensive transportation plan that is going to relieve congestion on our roads," she says. "That's a key factor when companies are looking to relocate here."

Braddock feels that the way to ease congestion is to build more roads. She opposes the idea for an Atlanta-area light rail system that is currently in the planning stages with several cities. The city of Kennesaw recently became a beneficiary of said program with a donation of $10,000.

Braddock feels that such a system will have the same result as so many previous attempts. 

"Transit has failed everywhere it's been tried." she said.  "MARTA is a mess—it's losing money. We need roads."

Braddock believes that more interstate routes in the Atlanta metro area and the surrounding counties will benefit Georgia's economy by both reducing commute time and making it easier for company trucks to move about the area. 

Education reform is Braddock's second priority. She is an avid advocate of school choice, particularly the voucher system. Under this model, public funds would be appropriated to parents rather than the schools themselves, and the parents would then choose the schools to which they would send their children.

"I think empowering parents is a good thing." she says, adding that she believes that a parent should have more influence over his or her children's educations. 

Under such a system, a parent, if dissatisfied with the education his or her child is receiving, could take their voucher and send them to another school. 

"The school (will) have to compete like a business for customers," she said, adding that under the voucher system, the schools' administrators would take a role akin to a business executive. She also believes that the competitive nature of the voucher system will ensure that only quality teachers will be able to keep their jobs.

Braddock believes that this competition among schools will ensure less bureaucracy and greatly increase the quality of education in Georgia. 

"You get the state and federal government out of the way and let those schools excel."