Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I support charter schools--I want to be clear about that--and I support this bill. However, I also believe that families should be able to choose schools within the public system that best meet their needs. When it comes to students' education, we definitely know that one size does not fit all. The same is true for charter schools. Different systems work better for different communities. We agree that it is wrong when the administration forces its vision for education reform on the States through grant programs, like Race to the Top, but that means it is equally wrong when Congress uses grant programs to do exactly the same thing. This bill seeks to force States to remove existing caps on charter schools by giving priority to grant applications from States that do not have caps. By doing this, Congress is punishing 20 States and Washington, D.C., whose charter laws have caps, including my home State of Washington. There may be legitimate reasons these States have caps, but this bill doesn't recognize that. Charter schools for the sake of having charter schools definitely is not the answer. It won't help students. That is why I am extremely disappointed that my bipartisan amendment was not made in order. It would have simply removed the provision that punishes certain State-designed charter systems, allowing States to compete equally for grants.…”