On the recordJuly 18, 2013
The speaker on the other side on one of the other amendments said that this is not the level at which we should be making these decisions. There are some efforts, no matter how noble the goal may be, where this is not the level at which these decisions ought to be made. I taught for 28 years and had multiple evaluations. They were all positive, but if I'd had any input that I'd wished to give, I could have easily accessed my school district, and I could have accessed the State, but if it were on the Federal level, I could fly and stand in front of the Johnson Building for weeks on end, and nobody in the Department of Education would care. The best evaluations come from parents, but parents have the same limitations of which I spoke. Their access on the Federal level is almost nonexistent. The Scalise amendment does not eliminate evaluations. It says you do them in the proper way. You do them, and you clarify that States sometimes can have a better idea than we do. If that happens, States should have every opportunity to implement their better ideas. This eliminates the mandate. It provides flexibility. It promotes a better outcome.
