COPOPS - 2006 Endorsements

COPOPS' Fall 2006 Candidate Endorsements

Randy Fischer, House District 53

Updated on September 5, 2006

Randy Fischer

Randy Fischer
Candidate
House District 53

randyfischer2006.com

I am Fort Collins native Randy Fischer. I'm running for Colorado House of Representatives in House District 53, the statehouse district encompassing most of west Fort Collins.

I was born and raised here in Fort Collins, attending Dunn Elementary, Lincoln Junior High School, and Poudre High School. I earned two degrees from Colorado State University – a Master’s Degree in engineering and a Bachelor’s Degree in natural resource management. Today I own and operate a successful engineering consulting business, in part, because the citizens of Colorado chose to invest in students like me. I am grateful for the excellent education I received from the Poudre schools and from Colorado State University. Today’s students – kids and adults alike – deserve that same high quality education.

My wife, Kathy, served our community as a classroom teacher in the Poudre School District for 26 years. Kathy was a master teacher, and now happily retired, she especially enjoys being a student in various classes. During her career, I observed Kathy working almost every single night as well as most weekends and some holidays preparing lesson plans, attending meetings, talking with parents, and responding to concerns of various groups as well as to individual students. She continues to communicate with students who graduated from her high-school classes. Through Kathy's dedication to teaching, I understand better than most the commitment that classroom teachers make to their students and to their profession. That is why assuring strong support for public education will be one of my top priorities in the legislature.

I am running for the legislature because I want every child in Colorado to be healthy, to be secure, and to have access to opportunity. I will work tirelessly to ensure that our children have the high quality education at public schools as I had when I was getting my start. Currently, Coloradans invest less in their children's education than almost any state in the nation. Colorado sends fewer of its children on to higher education than almost any state. We are short-changing our children by not preparing them for entrance into a challenging 21st -Century economy. This has to change. As a legislator, I will fight for the following policies to help our children succeed:

Ensure Referendum C funds are used, as promised, to restore funding for public and higher education;
Provide adequate support for public school teachers;
Narrow achievement gaps by increasing the number of at-risk kids receiving quality early-childhood education;
Close the technology gap, especially in some rural districts;
Set a goal of providing all-day kindergarten for Colorado school children;
Reduce class sizes for grades 1 through 3, at a minimum;
Obtain real truancy prevention so kids stay in school and keep out of trouble;
Provide all kids with safe after-school and summer programs to keep them off the streets and out of harms way;
Secure state funding for special-needs students enrolled in our public schools;
Increase the value of the College Opportunity Fund for high school graduates so that more of our students can attend our universities or community colleges;
Increase access to and support for trade and technical schools, apprenticeship programs, and nursing programs.

As Coloradans if we fail to equip our children to meet goals of good health, with emotional and financial security, and with creative opportunities, we will have shirked our responsibilities. We must not put our state’s future prosperity at risk. As your future leader, I will join my voice with yours to invest in the quality of life not only of Colorado’s children but also to all of those who help in their care and growth.