Marshall Sanford: “I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill. I would just like to thank, indeed, the chairman and…”

“I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bill. I would just like to thank, indeed, the chairman and the members of the committee for their great work on it. At the end of the day, it represents expanded choice in education, and that whole notion of increasing and expanding the marketplace in education, I think, is vital for a couple of different reasons. I think it is vital, one, because it is better for students. I think it is vital because the local control of education matters. Ultimately, I think it is vital from the standpoint of improving and increasing the level of innovation that we see in the educational marketplace. Let me expand on those thoughts just over a couple of minutes. One is that it is vital for students because God makes every child different. When I was working in politics in South Carolina, we passed a rather major charter school bill. We now have over 60 charter schools in South Carolina--right at 60 charter schools in South Carolina. What it did was it tailor-made for students applications that fit who they were. {time} 2000 So, in some cases, if they wanted to work on leadership, they could do so. In some cases, if they wanted to work on mathematics or English or technology or the arts, they had venues by which to specialize in that which God wired them to do. So, one, this idea of increased choices for the students that are out there, I think it is vital.…”