David Carrington

Unifying Us With Trustworthy Leadership
Developing and implementing real solutions to the state’s problems is going to require trustworthy leaders – leaders with character and competence. It’s easy for a candidate for public office to proclaim his or her trustworthiness, but as we know from our many convicted politicians, including three of my four predecessors as president of the Jefferson County Commission, that isn’t always the case. I fully understand that it is up to me to continuously earn the public’s trust with my decisions, actions and statements, just like I had to do during Jefferson County’s darkest days. I can assure you that my relationships with God, my wife, my family, and those who have placed their confidence in me are too important for me to do otherwise.

Upgrading Education In & Out
My vision is that we embark on a strategic path to move Alabama’s K-12 education system from the bottom 10% to the top 25% in the next decade. Among other things, we need to fully fund Pre-K, restore funding for the Alabama Reading Initiative, expand vocational-technical programs and fully embrace dual enrollment. In addition to those 'in school' initiatives, we need to double-down on our workforce development efforts for Alabamians 'out of school'. This includes expanding career tech training programs and offering basic math and reading courses to the more than 500,000 Alabama working-age adults who can’t escape the trap of a low paying job because they don’t have a high school degree or a technical certification.

Unlocking Jobs In & Up
Many of our college graduates don’t have a marketable degree; many of our high school graduates don’t have a marketable skill, and many of our minimum wage workers don’t have a high school degree. My vision is that we embark on a path to increase our state’s median family income from the bottom 10% to the top 50% within the next 10 years. This means we need to get more workers 'in' the system and then have adaptive workforce development programs to help them move 'up' in their careers. Not only will more working-age adults enjoy a higher quality of life with a better paying job; minimum wage jobs will become available for young people to enter the workforce, and the state will enjoy higher revenues without raising taxes.^[6]