In the interest of time, with knowing we may have votes soon and with two of our colleagues waiting, you well captured the importance of this hearing and the importance of this issue in the broad sense.

I am proud to be a parent of a soon-to-be 10-year-old tomorrow.

Early education was a big part.

It is vitally important that all of our youth receive a challenging and rewarding educational experience regardless of the setting.

when it is our children, we find the political will to do what we need to do.

And I think it is the political will of us as a nation, especially at the early stages and where we are failing so many kids...

But the long-term return is dramatically more than what it is going to cost, and that is the difficulty for us as a government...

We clearly--and wanted to advocate and expand that opportunity to every community we can.

And accountability is built in with signatures of the parents and of the school officials and of the principal--so as far as you can mandate parent participation.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The goal of most alternative settings is to provide youth who struggle in mainstream society another opportunity to succeed educationally.