Newt Gingrich: “OK. But I would say to my friend, first of all, voting for this rule brings that option to the floor, and I will vote…”

“OK. But I would say to my friend, first of all, voting for this rule brings that option to the floor, and I will vote with the gentleman on that option. There is no reason to be against this rule if the gentleman wants to help charter schools. This rule brings the charter school bill to the floor. But what seems to be frightening the gentleman, and I am not sure why the gentleman is frightened, is we also offer an alternative, if in fact there are not charter schools, or there are not enough charter schools, or the school is so terrible. And I would point out to the gentleman, the President the other day went to Chicago where Mayor Richard Daley is doing a good job. The President said, if you cannot fix the school, fire the principal. If firing the principal does not work, fire the teachers. If that does not work, he said, close the school. We have an alternative. There are 4,000 slots available today in Washington, DC, for children to go to schools that are private, that have a high graduation rate, that have a high education rate, that have a low drug-use rate, that have a low violence rate. There are 4,000 slots available today. We have an answer when the President closes that school he talked about. I do not know that the gentleman has an answer to that.”