John Ensign: “many colleagues will come to the floor today and state that federally funded vouchers will ruin our public schools. I…”

“many colleagues will come to the floor today and state that federally funded vouchers will ruin our public schools. I say flatly that this is wrong. This program does not take money away from any school. This amendment creates a demonstration program and authorizes new funding to pay for it. But, even if the Gregg amendment did not provide new funding, vouchers would not take money away from public schools. It a student uses a voucher to go to a private school, a public school no longer has to pay the cost of educating that student. And, in most cases, a voucher is given for less money than the average per pupil expenditure in the school district, thus saving the school money. Under the Gregg amendment, the voucher program is voluntary. It permits 10 cities and 3 states to apply for grants to operate a low- income public/private choice program for students attending failing schools. This amendment ensures that children in our Nation's poorest neighborhoods, who attend our Nation's most struggling schools, have the opportunity to get out and attend a better, higher-performing school. These vouchers allow parents to choose the best academic setting for their child. In my opinion, the reason all of my colleagues should support this amendment is because it is going to help children succeed in school. None of us wants a child to be stuck in a school that has been identified as failing for 3 years.”