Mike Levin: “first, on the amendment that I offered before, I just want to read very briefly from the memorandum from the Joint…”

“first, on the amendment that I offered before, I just want to read very briefly from the memorandum from the Joint Committee on Taxation which supports the chart I have used. This memorandum, which is now part of the Record, says that they estimate that "2.4 million of the returns [who have children in private school] would utilize education IRAs" and that those returns would utilize "52 percent of the tax benefit. . ." On the other hand, this letter says that the "35.4 million returns [with] dependents in public schools" would utilize 48 percent of the tax benefit. That is a direct quote from the Joint Committee on Taxation. Relative to the amendment of the Senator from Missouri, I will just speak briefly because I will turn the remainder of the time over to the Senator from Massachusetts on this issue. But I will say this. I do not disagree with his point that local school districts, communities, and parents should control the curriculum. I happen to be a strong believer in local control. Whether or not a school district wants to use new math or old math is something they ought to be able to decide. But one of the things they also should be able to decide is whether or not they want to utilize a national test which will give them some idea as to where their students stand relative to other students. If they do not like that idea, they should not have to give that test. That should be a local option. It is a local option under the President's proposal.”