Frank Riggs: “I again rise to thank the majority leader for his outstanding efforts on behalf of the District of Columbia children and…”

“I again rise to thank the majority leader for his outstanding efforts on behalf of the District of Columbia children and families. Mr. Chairman, I simply want to make sure that Members understand what we are talking about here. The Armey proposal would grant tuition scholarships to 2,000 children and tutoring assistance to an equal number of kids, kids that all too often are trapped in poor performing schools in the District of Columbia, and to quote the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran) from the debate a few weeks ago, are thereby consigned to a very bleak adult future. Mr. Chairman, I know there is always pressure, particularly late in the session of Congress, to jettison proposals in the name of political expedience, but there is never a wrong time to do the right thing. We cannot, in good conscience, leave these kids behind. We are talking about a school district with the lowest test scores and highest dropout rates of any large urban school district in the country, despite spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $9,000 per kid. How do we rationalize opposing this very modest proposal? We have to give choice a chance in the District of Columbia. We know that D.C. parents want choice: 7,573 children applied for 1,000 private scholarships that recently became available in the District of Columbia. We know that competition will help improve, not dismantle, the public school district.”