Andre Carson: “long ago, James Madison spoke of one of our most fundamental American propositions. That was liberty and learning, each…”

“long ago, James Madison spoke of one of our most fundamental American propositions. That was liberty and learning, each leaning on the other. We cannot have a healthy democracy or any democracy without quality public education. It is our job to show that education can rely on democracy. Let us put 100,000 new teachers in our classrooms. This Congress has been one of the least productive in recent memory. While urgent, unmet needs confront American families in areas like education and health care, this Congress just dithers with inconsequential suspension bills and ideological dead letters like tax cuts that drain away the budget surplus. In the State that I represent, Indiana, Indianapolis specifically, 29 percent of public schools are in serious need of repairs and 67 percent have outdated or inadequate facilities. Back in January this year, Congressional Democrats and the administration laid out an extensive agenda to improve the quality of public education in this country. The Republicans spent the entire year blocking that agenda, preferring instead to focus on scandals that divert public attention. Now we are asking that as a bare minimum Congress begin providing funds to hire new teachers and to fix up our crumbling schools. By hiring new teachers, we will be able to reduce class sizes.…”