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LaPolitics: What led you to run for office?
House Education Chair Laurie Schlegel: When I was fresh out of college, I joined a Young Republicans club, and as I got older I started going to the Republican Women’s clubs and I have worked on my husband’s campaigns. The funny thing is that I said I would never run for office. I didn’t think our family needed another elected official, nor did I ever want to run another campaign. But I’m very lucky to have supportive people in my life that nudged me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to qualify. When former Rep. Charles Henry resigned unexpectedly, it actually only took me a couple of days to decide to run because I knew that if I didn’t make a decision soon that the field would fill up. Life is all about timing.
What is your position on education savings accounts, and do you have any proposals for controlling their cost to the state and/or providing accountability?
I am a big supporter of ESAs. Of course, any school choice program should be held accountable if they do not perform, and we should place guardrails on the program to make sure that we get where we are trying to go. We hope to begin by first prioritizing those already utilizing the voucher program and students from low-income households. Then, we hope to open it up to every child because the state should give every family the opportunity to use their own tax dollars to give their children a good education. I think the phase-in and the fact that the program is subject to appropriations by the Legislature will help us manage and evaluate cost.
What other changes do you think the state should prioritize to move the needle on education outcomes?
We’ve recently passed some good education policies to help move the needle when it comes to literacy. And we are currently trying to build on those policies when it comes to math. Plus, we are focused on unburdening teachers’ workloads by reevaluating all the extra training that we have put on teachers over the years. We need to let our teachers do what they do best and that is teach.
Do you think K-12 education funding should remain constitutionally protected?
It’s actually in the constitution that the Legislature shall provide for the education of the people of the state, and I believe that mandate should remain in the constitution. But I don’t think having so many funds dedicated has been a good thing. It has hamstrung the Legislature and doesn’t allow the people’s elected body to be flexible when it comes to the budget. So when things need to be adjusted, changed or prioritized, there are only a few pots of money that can be adjusted. And sadly, higher education is one of them. So no, I don’t think funds should be dedicated in the constitution. But the Legislature should always prioritize the funding of education to fulfill its constitutional duty to educate the people of the state.
With potential state budget shortfalls looming in future years, how should lawmakers approach teacher pay?
I do believe that the Legislature has to continue to find ways to incentivize our teachers, better pay being one of them. But I also believe that local governments have to find ways to increase and prioritize teacher pay; teachers, after all, are local employees. One idea floating around is that the state creates a match program to the locals for teacher pay raises where both the state and locals come together on this important issue. We all need to prioritize our teachers whether that is base pay or compensating them for overtime.
What are your other legislative priorities for the rest of the year, outside of education?
Currently our kids are in a mental health crisis, and when you look at the data you can clearly see one big change over the decades: social media and smartphones. So every year I try to work on passing bills that make the internet a little bit safer for our kids. I also offered a resolution asking LDH, LDOE and DCFS to come together and see if there is a way that we can get more mental health counselors in schools that includes parental involvement. I have crime bills dealing with the nonconsensual disclosure of private images on the internet, tackling the porch piracy problem we are facing, increasing the penalties for sellers of fentanyl that is made to look like popular prescription pills, and putting a few more guardrails on the commutation process.
