Political Quotes

“To have the opportunity to have this dialogue about empowering parents, empowering parents to give them a bigger role in the education of their children, there are a number of methods now that States are employing to create a dramatic impact in improving their children's education. I think my colleague and I agree that the most important thing in a child's education is having a caring and involved adult in their life. And whether it is a parent, whether it is a guardian, whether it is a mentor, whatever, but if a child has a caring adult in their life, who takes an interest in their education, that is a powerful motivator to ensure that that child has the ability to learn and has the ability to move forward. And States are doing a tremendous amount of innovation and experimenting with how they provide parents with this option of selecting where their children go to school. Fifteen States today have various proposals for public school choice, inner- and intra-district choice programs, allowing students to transfer between public schools. And then there are other States that provide slightly different versions of public school choice. One of the things, again, another version of public school choice, is charter schools. Today over 40 States and the District of Columbia have charter school laws. Again, giving parents the initiative of saying this is the school that best fits my child's needs.”