Political Quotes

“I rise to restate the significance of the vote that we will have in about 2 hours--exactly 2 hours, as a matter of fact. It is a vote that will reflect the underlying principles of freedom--freedom to identify local needs and respond to those needs in a way that is specific to the problem, to the challenge, to the need in the community, or in a school, and address the principle of who best decides how to accomplish the goal we all agree to, and that is boosting student achievement. Is it Washington, DC, the Federal Government, or is it parents, local communities, local schools, principals--the very people who can identify what the needs might be? The legislation captures it all in many ways, and therefore I think that we, our colleagues, and the American people should follow closely how the votes go because the bill captures that principle of flexibility and local control versus sort of a one-size-fits-all programmatic approach, a categorical approach that has so characterized our efforts over the last 35 years.”