Political Quotes

“Just in closing, at the beginning of the year we got together and talked about what our vision was for our committee, where we wanted to drive the education agenda. We started out not with the bureaucracy, not with the dollars, not with the number of programs. We started out with the kids. We said, we know what works in schools. We know what works in educating kids. We need to empower kids. We need to empower parents to get involved in their kids' education. We need to take a look at whether the bureaucracy and the 40 Federal programs and the $120 billion, whether all that influence out of Washington is empowering parents, enabling students, or whether it is getting in the way. Are the programs getting in the way between parents and the local school board, so the school board looks more to Washington than they do to parents? We are focused on kids. We are focused on good education. We have the same goals in mind. We just have a different way of getting there.”