Tommy Tuberville: “I come to the floor today to express my very strong support for school choice. Sunday was the start of School Choice…”

“I come to the floor today to express my very strong support for school choice. Sunday was the start of School Choice Week. Tens of thousands of parents, students, and educators are going to celebrate the accomplishments of the school choice movement. I spent 40 years in education. I was a government school teacher--better known as public school-- including in higher education. I was a coach. I was a mentor. For 40 years, I watched the school choice movement grow and change many, many lives. I have seen the changes that school choice has brought for students across our great country. When I first started in education 40 years ago, there was no opportunity for school choice. Homeschooling was very, very rare. But our government schools were in better shape back then. Homeschooling today is practically like attending a small school. Today, there are about 2 million kids being homeschooled across our country. Homeschooling is the fastest growing form of education in America. It is growing because parents recognize that our schools are failing--I am going to repeat that: failing--our kids. It is time for lawmakers across this country at every level, including us, to recognize that our schools are failing. Over the past 40 years, I have watched our education system decline with my own eyes. I have visited schools, parents, and principals in 49 States and American Samoa. What I saw sometimes was absolutely shocking.…”