Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman. Mr. Chair, the 10th Amendment of the Constitution vests the responsibility of free public education with the States; but recently, the administration and the Federal Government have been running headlong into establishing Federal standards through a common core set of principles at State levels. H.R. 5 is an important step in reaffirming the fact that it is the States' rights and States' responsibility to determine what those students should learn within their States and, more importantly, reasserts the fact that locally elected school boards should be the sole determinants of what students should be taught and learn at local school districts. As a former school board member myself, I know the importance of local control. H.R. 5 reestablishes that and makes certain that the Secretary of Education does not have the power to force in a dictatorial way local States to adopt common core principles. For so many reasons, this bill should be passed, and I urge a ``yes'' vote.”