Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We are actually talking about two of these joint resolutions, both H.J. Res. 57 and H.J. Res. 58, and are looking at accountability measures. Sometimes I think people forget, actually, that the first time that Common Core was mentioned in Federal law was in ESSA, the most recently reauthorized legislation for elementary and secondary education. That was done because we agreed to do that, because we felt that it was important to call it out while, at the same time, being careful to look at our local and our State authorities and have them come together and make the decisions that they think are best for their students. That has been the tradition, and that is why it is important that we have those folks in place in our local school districts. As a former school board member, I know that those are where the real decisions are made for kids, but we need to see in which area and why we have a Federal role. I think, even at the hearing that we had in the Education and the Workforce Committee today, the Republicans' witnesses acknowledged that there is an importance of a Federal role. It is in accountability and responsibility and in acknowledging that sometimes it is important to give direction to States and to give direction to local school districts as well. That is really what we are trying to do here.…”