Jack Kingston: “Why are the liberal Washingtonian Democrats so afraid to change public education? Why are they trying to maintain the…”

“Why are the liberal Washingtonian Democrats so afraid to change public education? Why are they trying to maintain the status quo in public education? What is it that they were afraid of? Are they so in the pockets of the Washington big unions that they are willing to sacrifice America's children to educational mediocrity? I am a graduate of public schools. I am the son of a teacher and the brother of a teacher. I think it is very important for us to have a strong, dynamic public education system, and that is why I have worked with our conference to try to give public education the schools that they need to prepare our children for the future. I am appalled by Members of Congress who choose to ignore the global realities of a changing world in order to keep the status quo. Just because Washington bureaucrats do not want to change or improve education does not mean that Congress has to be their lap dog. Since I graduated from high school in 1973, SAT scores have fallen. On an international basis, American children, compared to Japanese, German and British children, score lower on many of the standardized tests. Public schools are losing students to private schools and religious schools, and home schools are increasing in popularity and numbers. Public schools, because of this Washington command and control approach, have lost their local flexibility, their local control. They are mired in paperwork and red tape. That is why charter schools have become so popular.”