EDUCATION

Here are some ideas to help improve Arlington's public schools: 

• Expand Internship Programs. This will help students find jobs when they graduate.
• Expand Afterschool Programs. This will help working parents and give children additional opportunities to learn and have fun.
• Expand Mental Health Counseling. This will help troubled kids and, hopefully, head off problems before they become tragedies.
• Reduce Class Sizes. Smaller class sizes allow teachers to give students more individualized attention which will lead to higher achievement.
• Raise Teacher Salaries. We pay our teachers less than Fairfax does. We need to raise teacher salaries to retain good teachers.
• Get Our Kids out of Trailers. Arlington is one of the richest counties in the nation. Why are our schoolchildren sitting in trailers?
• Adopt Innovative Teaching Techniques. Innovative teaching techniques enliven classrooms and get students more involved in learning. Some examples include:
  — Interactive lessons. examples-live quizzes, games with spinner wheels
  — Virtual Reality. will allow students to experience new countries and environments without leaving the classroom
  — 3D Printing. will allow students to create models so they can better see what is being discussed
  — Design-Thinking, Problem Solving Projects. encourage students to think up and create solutions to real world problems
  — Peer Teaching\Peer Review. Students understand the material better when they have to explain it to someone else

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

WE NEED TO TEMPORARILY CUT BUSINESS TAXES TO BRING NEW BUSINESS TO ARLINGTON.

Arlington County's commercial vacancy rate is 21.7 percent! That means that one out of every five offices/storefronts in Arlington is empty. This is a problem of epic proportions for several reasons. The first is that we need the tax revenue from businesses to fund local government and to pay for social programs. The second is that if business tax revenue is cut, the only way to make it up is to raise real estate taxes. And the third reason is that fewer businesses means that we will have fewer products and services for Arlington residents.

In order to solve this problem, I recommend that we:

• Temporarily cut the business license tax and the business property tax for new businesses who are willing to commit to moving to Arlington and staying for five years;
• Change zoning laws to permit new uses in commercial areas; and
• Encourage mixed use development - Offices above shops and restaurants to entice workers to stop working from home and return to the office.

INTELLIGENT DEVELOPMENT

We need to make sure that:

• New Office Buildings and Residential Buildings Are Compatible with and Respect the Needs of the Neighborhoods they Serve
• New Office Buildings are Sustainable Net Zero Buildings
• Local Mom and Pop Restaurants and Businesses Are Not Displaced
• We redevelop Langston Boulevard and Columbia Pike