Joel Hefley: “politicians love to make a lot of noise about education reform and better schools. Ever since the report, ``A Nation At…”

“politicians love to make a lot of noise about education reform and better schools. Ever since the report, ``A Nation At Risk,'' came out in 1983, calls for education reform have been part of every politician's repertoire, but nothing seems to change, and parents with children in bad schools have the impression that reformers are more interested in rearranging the deck chairs than they are about serious changes. Mr. Speaker, that is about to change. That is because more and more parents are insisting on real changes in the educational opportunities available to their children. Two ideas that will not go away are school choice and education savings accounts. They will not go away because both ideas are as American as apple pie, freedom to choose and savings for the children's future, and because it is awfully hard to argue with the results. With Milwaukee and Cleveland leading the way, school choice is the wave of the future, and education savings accounts will become part of that movement for greater educational opportunities. The time for talk is over; now is the time for real change.”