[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 26 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN RECOGNITION OF TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

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                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2000

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, as this is Texas Public Schools Week, I wanted 
to take a moment to offer my thanks to the parents and teachers of my 
district and those across Texas for all of their hard work to make sure 
our children get the best education possible. Unfortunately, Congress 
and the federal bureaucracy continues to strip authority away from 
parents, teachers and local school boards. While Congress promises the 
American people that expansions of federal control over local schools 
will create an education utopia, the fact is the federal education 
bureaucracy has only made educating the next generation more difficult 
and diverted resources away from the classroom. For example, while the 
federal government provides less than 10% of education funding, many 
school districts find that over 50% of their paperwork is generated by 
federal mandates. The federal government also forces local school 
officials to jump through numerous hoops in order to get Washington to 
return a ridiculously small portion of taxpayer moneys to local public 
schools.
  Over thirty years of centralized control of education has resulted in 
failure and frustrated parents. It is time for Washington to return 
control of the nation's school system to the people who best know the 
needs of the children: local communities and parents. The key to doing 
so is to return control of the education dollar back to the American 
people.
  In order to give control of education back to the people I have 
introduced the Family Education Freedom Act (HR 935). This bill 
provides parents with a $3,000 per child tax credit for K-12 education 
expenses.
  The Family Education Freedom Act fulfills the American people's goal 
of greater control over their children's education by simply allowing 
parents to keep more of their hard-earned money to spend on education 
rather than force them to send it to Washington to support education 
programs reflective of the values and priorities of Congress and the 
federal bureaucracy.
  The Family Education Freedom Act will help parents strengthen their 
child's public education. Parents may use the credit to improve schools 
by helping to finance the purchase of education tools such as computers 
or extracurricular activities such as music programs. Parents of public 
school students may also wish to use the credit to pay for special 
services for their children.
  I have also introduced the Teacher Tax Cut (HR 937), which provides a 
$1,000 tax credit for every teacher in America. Quality education is 
impossible without quality teaching. Yet, America's teachers remain 
underpaid compared to other professionals. Adding insult to injury, 
teachers often have to use their own money to purchase supplies for 
their classroom. For example, according to the Association of Texas 
Professional Educators, many Texas teachers spent between $50-300 of 
their own money on school supplies during the 1998-99 school year!
  Because America's teachers are underpaid because they are overtaxed, 
the best way to raise teacher take-home pay is to reduce their taxes. 
Raising teachers' take-home pay via a $1,000 tax credit lets teachers 
know the American people and the Congress respect their work and 
encourages high-quality people to enter, and remain in, the teaching 
professional have also introduced the Education Improvement Tax Cut (HR 
936), which provides a $3,000 tax credit for cash or in-kind donations 
to public schools to support academic or extra-curricular programs. 
This legislation encourages local-citizens and community leaders to 
help strengthen local public schools. The Education Improvement Tax Cut 
Act also ensures that education funding matches the needs of individual 
communities. People in one community may use this credit to purchase 
computers, while children in another community may, at last, have 
access to a quality music program because of community leaders who took 
advantage of the tax credit contained in this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, my education agenda of returning control over the 
education dollar to the American people is the best way to strengthen 
public education. First of all, unlike plans to expand the federal 
education bureaucracy, my bills are free of ``guidelines'' and 
restrictions that dilute the actual number of dollars spent to educate 
a child. In addition, the money does not have to go through federal and 
sate bureaucrats, each of whom get a cut, before it reaches the 
classroom. Returning power over the education dollar to the American 
people will also free public school teachers, administrators and 
principals from having to comply with numerous federal mandates. 
Therefore, school personnel will be able to devote their time to 
working with parents and other concerned citizens to make sure all 
children are receiving the best possible education.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I once again extend my thanks to all 
those who are involved in the education of our nation's children. I 
also call upon my colleagues to help strengthen public schools by 
returning control over the education dollar to parents and other 
concerned citizens, as well as raising teacher take-home pay by cutting 
their taxes, so that the American people can once again make the 
American education system the envy of the world.

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