John Thune: “in our great State of South Dakota, we have a fine tradition of public education. My children participated in that…”

“in our great State of South Dakota, we have a fine tradition of public education. My children participated in that process. We always believe as a matter of policy that the State and local governments are those where the function and responsibility primarily for education resides, but as a matter of conviction, that to the extent the Federal Government, the taxpayers, are asked for Federal dollars to support education, that those dollars ought to go into the classroom. My two young girls attend public schools. They are only 2 of the 51 million students in America who may not have the resources and supplies necessary to prepare them for the 21st century, because we are not getting enough of the Federal funding into the classroom. That is why I support this resolution. With this resolution, it is estimated that each classroom would receive an additional $1,800. In my State of South Dakota we spend approximately $3,500 per student. Another $1,800 could help pay for additional computer software, hooking on to the Internet or books. I believe in public education. I hope my colleagues in this body will show their support for public education by supporting a resolution which will ensure that we get the very best value for our tax dollar.”