[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S477-S478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
School Choice
Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, my colleagues across the aisle spent
the first part of this year laser-focused on voting rights and the
filibuster. Democrats at all levels, including President Biden, spoke
of nothing else, claiming that this was the most important issue facing
Americans and that the future of our country was at stake. But this was
not a righteous crusade; it was a march into complete delusion--a
message completely out of touch with the struggles of real Americans.
While Democrats lectured, Americans confronted reality. Across the
country, inflation is squeezing paychecks, and COVID cases are
skyrocketing. These are the issues that families are focusing on.
Omicron's surge has sent students home from classrooms and back in
front of computer screens. This is where parents' minds have been these
last few weeks--not on Senate rules, not on the filibuster, but on
their children's educations because when parents think
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about the future of our country, they think about their children and
the opportunities that they will have and that all starts with
education.
During my four decades of coaching, I saw firsthand how education
provides an unparalleled opportunity to uplift students from all
different backgrounds, races, and religions. Education is the key to
opportunity and freedom. It empowers students to create futures for
themselves, to make better lives for themselves. It is a way to achieve
the American dream. In short, education is our country's future.
Ensuring the next generation receives a quality education is the most
important investment--the most important investment--we can make in the
future success of our country.
But before I talk about where we should go when it comes to
education, it is important to note where we are today in education.
Right now, the United States of America is slipping. It is slipping
in the classroom. When it comes to our global standing, we are 37th in
the world--37th in the world--in math, and we are 13th in the world in
reading. Just over half of the young people in our country today can
read over the sixth grade reading level. That is simply not good enough
for the most powerful country on the face of the Earth. Our students
are falling behind.
At no time was this more important than in the last 2 years. COVID
turned our living rooms into classrooms, bringing lesson plans to
kitchen tables in homes all across the country. This gave parents a
front row seat to what their children were and were not learning, and
many parents did not like what they saw. Students weren't being taught
how to think; they were being taught what to think. This shift from
what is right to what is ``woke'' has startled parents, but it was also
startling for parents to see what isolation did to their developing
children.
As kids saw less of their friends, they retreated into darkness.
Rates of depression and anxiety rose dramatically. Since the start of
the pandemic, hospitals have seen more mental emergencies among kids
than in the history of our country. In young girls, the suicide rate
has jumped over 50 percent compared to the prepandemic levels--50
percent.
While we are nearly 2 years into the pandemic, the digital divide
still creates profound roadblocks in learning for many children who
lack access to rural broadband and even a laptop. Learning by low-
income and minority students was disrupted the most by school closures.
The pandemic compounded existing problems in our education system,
and every child has felt the effects of this pandemic from not having
been in the classroom, but it has also highlighted a key piece of the
educational puzzle: parents. Parents are the key to education for our
kids. Parents realized the power of their collective voices during the
pandemic, and they are using it to advocate for improvements in the
education of their kids in the classroom. Time and time again, we have
seen parents stand against restrictive mandates and unnecessary school
shutdowns.
Now, as we look toward the future of education, we need to remember
what the pandemic taught us--that one size does not fit all. It rarely
works, and it certainly does not work in education. That is why, moving
forward, when we talk about education, we will have an opportunity to
revisit the conversation about the importance of choice. Parents know
their child best. They understand the unique needs of their children
and can serve as the best advocates for those needs, especially now
that the needs may be different than they were 2 years ago, before
COVID.
A child's education shouldn't be defined by their ZIP Code or
financial limitations. A child and their parents should have a choice
about education. School choice increases options through vouchers or
tax credit scholarships, allowing parents to select the best learning
environment for their child. School choice breaks down barriers and
allows the funds to follow the student.
School choice embraces the truth that different children learn in
different ways and in different environments, whether it be in a
charter school, a public school, a private school, or a home school.
There are school choice successes, and there are stories everywhere we
look.
Just take this story about a young man from Alabama. His name is
Nicholas West. Without Alabama's tax credit scholarship, Nicholas and
his brothers would have had no option but to have attended a high
school that they were zoned for, which was a school that was unable to
deliver the individualized instruction that they needed. Thanks to the
school choice programs, Nicholas and his brothers were able to thrive
in different learning environments based on their unique needs and
interests. By being in an environment that set him up for success,
Nicholas was able to earn college credits during high school, and he
went on to start his own business upon graduating from high school.
I believe that this country owes you one thing: It owes you an
opportunity. Yet what you do with that opportunity is up to the
individual. For Nicholas, he used this opportunity--presented to him
through the school choice--to tap his full potential. It makes sense
that we should increase access to the opportunities for young men and
women just like Nicholas. We must deliver the same opportunities to
other students who have skills and drive but who need a path forward.
Alabama is making strides in opportunity and creation. Charter
schools continue to grow in popularity in our State. Last year,
enrollment increased over 65 percent--the second highest enrollment
percentage in the Nation. If I sound like I am proud of the steps
Alabama has taken to ensure we give our students opportunity, I am. I
believe other States can learn from the emphasis Alabama has put on
``choice.''
As we learn more about how the pandemic has impacted students,
educational choice will become that much more important. In fact,
choice may make all the difference. When we look forward and discuss
the future of our country, we have to get back to talking about
education. The future of our country depends on the educational
opportunities we make available to the next generation.
That is why I am proud that the resolution I helped to introduce, to
recognize National School Choice Week, passed the Senate last night. I
am glad my colleagues recognize how important it is to encourage
parents and students to explore all available educational
opportunities.
Conversations about the importance of school choice should continue
to drive our priorities throughout this year. If we join together to
make that commitment, our future for this country and our kids in this
country will be much brighter.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.