Charles Rangel: “Mr. Speaker, today Republicans continue their attack on America's public schools. This is what it is all about. Shift…”

“Mr. Speaker, today Republicans continue their attack on America's public schools. This is what it is all about. Shift the taxpayers' dollars from public education and put it into private education. This legislation drains the Treasury of taxpayers' dollars needed to improve public schools and provides a tax break for those who are the wealthiest in this country. Ninety percent of America's children attend public schools. These are the children we should be helping. Focusing on school construction, fix the schools where walls are crumbling down, invest in teacher training, purchase new textbooks, put in computers and get them on line with the Internet. That is what the Rangel substitute does. Republicans would help wealthy families who can already afford to send their kids to private schools. My kids went to public schools. I know what that means. I know what the great equalizer public education has been in this country. Under this legislation, a parent could write off the purchase of a car to drive their kid to school or they could pay one child to tutor a brother or a sister. Seventy percent of the benefits of the bill go to upper income families making $93,000 or more. It is wrong. Education is for everyone, not the few or the privileged.”