Political Quotes

“My daughter is about to turn 1 year old. It reminds me how fleeting childhood is, how brief is that moment in a child's life to have the opportunity to get the education that a child needs to have the opportunity to live a good life and to have all the opportunities to build a better life that we take for granted. This amendment today really is not for our kids. It is not for affluent children growing up in affluent homes. They have choice. They can move to the school district of their choice; and if they do not like that, they can afford to pay their property taxes and pay a tuition for the private school of their choice. This amendment is for the majority of kids, our constituents who grow up in families where they do not have the luxury that that wealth provides. They have the fewest opportunities. They have the most disadvantages. All this amendment says is if those children are stuck in a school that is chronically failing, if they are languishing in a school for 3 years that is not teaching them, then those parents ought to be free to move that child to a school that will work. It is amazing to me that opponents of this amendment can say that a poor child with few opportunities who is stuck and languishing in a school that is not teaching him will force him to stay in that school. That is what the opponents are saying. I just do not know how we can do that, with good conscience.”