John Mica: “I would like to talk about scandal in Washington. The scandal in Washington really is what the Democrats and the former…”

“I would like to talk about scandal in Washington. The scandal in Washington really is what the Democrats and the former majority party did to public education in 40 years. In 40 years, when they controlled the House and the other body, they nearly destroyed public education. If you ask anyone, any teacher, any high school principal or elementary principal in our public schools what is wrong with our schools today, they will tell you, very simply, it is not just a need for more teachers and better teachers, it is a question of some fundamentals. We have lost control of our classrooms, they will tell you. There is no discipline in the classroom. Why is there no discipline? Because the liberal policies of the other side for 40 years has eroded the principles of discipline, the power to the teacher, the power to the local school board, the power to the parent. That is one of the major problems facing our public schools today. So the scandal is what they have done to public education in the United States. Let me tell you about the other scandal that they have committed in education. The scandal is they have created a bureaucracy that is unparalleled in any civilization in education. Now, listen to this quote from Investor's Daily, just an observation they made: ``School funding in 40 years has quadrupled. Teachers' salaries have only increased during that same period 43 percent.'' Teachers only account now for barely half the personnel in public schools.”