[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 156 (Saturday, November 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IT IS UNFAIR TO FORCE PARENTS TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO BAD SCHOOLS

  (Ms. DUNN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, last week, right on this House floor, I was 
disappointed to hear a distinguished Member of the other side of the 
aisle say that education savings accounts and school choice would 
operate at the expense of public schools. I would like to respond to 
that accusation. The key point is this:
  We believe absolutely, based on 200 years of evidence, that 
competition forces excellence, it forces improvement in quality, and it 
forces innovation. In many parts of our country it is very important to 
improve the public school system.
  Second, we believe it is unfair to force parents who love their 
children to send them to a bad school simply because they cannot afford 
to send them someplace else.
  While some continue to defend failed schools and ask for more money 
and create more Washington Federal programs, we have a better idea. We 
favor giving parents more choice. Now, some parents have unlimited 
choices as to where they can send their children to school, but some do 
not. They do not because they are poor or they face other financial 
constraints, and so sometimes they have no choice but to send their 
child to a bad school where they are not even safe.
  All we want to do is give them a chance at a truly great education.

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