John Rice Carter: “I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota for his work on this bill. It is a very important bill, and it is certainly…”

“I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota for his work on this bill. It is a very important bill, and it is certainly very applicable to what is going on in our country right now. Mr. Chairman, Federal intervention in our Nation's classrooms is at an alltime high, and the Obama administration continues to believe that they think they know what is best for our children. However, despite the continued intrusion into our children's classrooms, student achievement remains stagnant. Out of 34 countries, students in the U.S. rank 20th and 27th in science and math respectively, so it is clear that our education system is not adequately serving our children, and it is not going to be fixed by Washington bureaucrats. Our education system can only be fixed by parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, coaches, and community leaders--the people who actually know what is best for our Nation's children. That is why I am supporting H.R. 5. I am supporting this bill to put some restraints on the administration, to rein in the Department of Education, and to put the keys to our children's educations and futures back in local control where it belongs. It repeals out-of-touch teacher qualification programs, and it allows State and local officials to determine who is qualified to teach their children. It also eliminates 65 programs and creates a grant program with greater flexibility for school districts.…”