James Rogan: “in today's newspaper we learned that the Journal of the American Medical Association is publishing a national study that…”

“in today's newspaper we learned that the Journal of the American Medical Association is publishing a national study that found when teenagers feel connected to their parents and to their schools, they are less likely to suffer emotional distress, consider suicide, engage in violence, smoke, drink, use drugs, or have early sex. It may surprise some of our friends on the other side of the aisle who really believe that schools should be run by Washington bureaucrats. Perhaps they believe these favorable findings are achieved only when children feel connected to big government. The truth is, the connection must be to parents and to good schools, not to Washington. Mr. Speaker, we cannot legislate good parents, but we in Congress can legislate better schools. The way to make schools better is to end the day of Washington bureaucrats and redtape running our local schools. Let us empower parents and teachers and local school districts instead of bureaucrats thousands of miles from the classroom. That would be the greatest legacy we could give to both public education and to our children's future.”