David Weldon: “I believe and I trust the gentleman believes the same way, that the person who is most concerned about the child and the…”

“I believe and I trust the gentleman believes the same way, that the person who is most concerned about the child and the child's education is the mom and dad. It is not necessarily the bureaucracy here in Washington or the Members of this body or the National Education Association president located in Washington, D.C., but it is actually the mom and dad. When you empower parents to be able to select an educational environment that is best for their kids, they will do that. I trust moms and dads to select the best education for their kids. I think a certain amount of the opposition that comes from the left on this issue, this critical issue of school choice, is a lack of trust of parents. Do we trust the moms and dads of America to select the best educational environment for their children or do we not. I would assert that, if we could overcome the obstacles of the education bureaucrats and the National Education Association and the left wing elements within the Congress of the United States and we could just learn to trust parents and give parents the power, the ability to select an educational environment for their kids that is best for them, they will do so. Academic performance will improve. SAT scores will go up because kids will be in a better academic environment. As I said earlier, the place where this is most critical is in our poor communities.”