Dan Coats: “I want to tag on, I do not know if I can add to what was so articulately presented by my colleague, Senator Lieberman…”

“I want to tag on, I do not know if I can add to what was so articulately presented by my colleague, Senator Lieberman, from Connecticut, about the many reasons why we ought to go forward and support this demonstration effort to determine whether or not it is a valid idea to allow students and their parents to make a choice, or at least to have a choice, to attend a private school in lieu of the public school education they are receiving. Senator Lieberman and I obviously feel that it is. We have been trying to promote the idea of school choice for several years here in the U.S. Senate, albeit, unsuccessfully. The evidence is rolling in at a very rapid rate that at least in certain sectors of our country the public school system is badly failing our children. Now, many Americans can opt out of that. They can opt out of that because they have the financial wherewithal to select a different school for their child if they feel that child is not receiving a legitimate education or an education that will allow them, in many cases, to escape the poverty that they find themselves in. Probably most, if not all, of the Senators in this body had that choice. I think that it is important to stress what we are attempting to do here. We want to allow a test of the concept of making assistance available to families and to students who do not have the financial means to make a choice as to where their children will be educated.”