Heidi Alexander: “if you really want to solve inequality in America by giving children an opportunity to attend a better school, vote yes…”

“if you really want to solve inequality in America by giving children an opportunity to attend a better school, vote yes because that would give any State the opportunity to take 89 Federal programs, consolidate them into $2,100 scholarships, and give one of those scholarships to every low-income child in the State--that is 20 percent of the children--for that child to decide which school they would attend. It might be public; it might be private. We would be using the same policy that we used with colleges and universities. The money follows the child to the school that the parent decides that child should attend. This is not a mandate; this is an opportunity. The schools would have to be accredited. If you really want to create equality in America by giving every child an opportunity to be at the same starting line, let the State decide to give a $2,100 scholarship to follow a low-income child to the school that the family decides the student should attend, public or private. I urge a ``yes'' vote. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.”