Tom Coburn: “I want to identify with a few of your remarks. Being from Oklahoma, I went to all the public schools, all of my kids…”

“I want to identify with a few of your remarks. Being from Oklahoma, I went to all the public schools, all of my kids went to public school. I have, my third daughter, my youngest daughter is now a senior at Oklahoma State University. Public schools is something that we need to enhance, and nobody here is saying we should not. The question is, how many of the dollars are spent on the children and how many of the dollars are spent in the classroom and how many of the dollars are sent there for a merit raise for an outstanding teacher versus how many of the dollars are spent above that school all the way back to Washington? The fact is only 60 percent of the dollars are getting to our children. Why should not our teachers be some of our highest paid professionals? Why? Because it is getting chewed up in administrative costs from Washington before it ever gets there. It is interesting, not long ago they published a study done in Massachusetts, an 8th grade literacy test, 40 percent of the teachers in the State of Massachusetts could not pass an eighth grade literacy test. That is not an affront from me towards the teachers of Massachusetts, but it brings to bear the very real problem. We put the dollars in the wrong place. If we want excellence, then we have to concentrate the dollars in the classroom.”