On the recordJuly 18, 2013
As one of the authors of the underlying legislation, I'll be the first to admit that going through the progress that we have laid out in this House has the potential to only make the legislation better. In that vein, this amendment, as I understand the gentlelady to propose it, supports the tutoring and public school choice options in the Direct Student Services program. Tutoring services and public school choice are key programs to ensure students have the opportunity to access critical educational help or to find a school that better fits their needs. We know, through study after study, through letter after letter, through parent interview after parent interview, that students who have access to tutoring services do better in school, those who are in a school that fits their learning style better. This is a minor amendment to the important program that I think already exists in the underlying law, and it says that if there is not enough funding in the State to support all of the applications for direct student services, that it should prioritize the vulnerable populations, rather than look at supporting the lowest-performing schools. So, either way, the important thing is to help students have access to high-quality tutoring and school choice. For that reason, I reserve the balance of my time.
