Rodney Frelinghuysen: “In closing, make no mistake about it, Mayor Williams supports what we are doing today. The gentleman from Virginia…”

“In closing, make no mistake about it, Mayor Williams supports what we are doing today. The gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Tom Davis) has referenced the editorial in The Washington Post by Mayor Williams and Councilman Chavous and Peggy Cooper. Let me read from it: ``For those of us involved every day in urban education, there are staggering realities that keep us awake at night. Every child who graduates without basic skills or drops out altogether is on a potential pathway to public assistance, to being alienated from the full benefits of participation in society, or, worse, to a life in the criminal justice system.'' They go on. They say: ``We think that this is an appropriate investment by the Federal Government in the children of the Nation's capital. Without the resources ordinarily provided by a State, the District is more challenged than other cities in its efforts to adequately fund public education and foster innovative reform. ``Our children,'' they go on, ``have endured decades of neglect in public education. But there is hope. We have a reconfigured school board and respected superintendent.'' They say, ``Despite these underpinnings, parents still want more choices. At town meetings, community picnics, hearings and PTA meetings, we hear the same complaints: I cannot find the right setting for my child, or my child is not flourishing in this environment.'' This is a good bill, Mr. Chairman.…”