Political Quotes

“Absolutely, no question about it. The education caucus, as the gentleman knows, we have made it a point not to bash members, to make it a partisan issue, because education is not a partisan issue. It is a nonpartisan issue. Both sides of the aisle agree that we must improve the quality of education. We have to get out of the business of pointing fingers because while we point fingers, we have kids out there who do not have the kind of schools that they need, that are conducive for learning, teachers that are not paid the kind of salaries that they deserve in order to live, in order to take care of their day-to-day expenses like a house note, a car note, and things of that nature. Further, the average amount estimated needed per school, this is an interesting figure, $1.7 million. That is the average amount, according to GAO, that is needed to repair a school, $1.7 million. We ought to have a summit with Federal, State, and local officials to talk about how we get these schools up to par. You cannot open a barber shop in Baton Rouge, LA unless you pass all of the fire codes, unless you pass all of the city codes. We had schools open up yesterday, I grant you in Baton Rouge, LA, and Chicago, IL, and in Washington, DC, that could not pass a code, a city code, if they tried.”