[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4828]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   H.R. 471, D.C. SCHOOL VOUCHER BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CHU. Yesterday, House leadership pushed through H.R. 471. I voted 
``no'' because it does nothing to create jobs, hurts public education, 
and adds to the national deficit.
  We have been back to work in the House for 13 weeks, and for 13 
straight weeks the Republican majority has done nothing to create jobs. 
They haven't even put a single jobs bill on the House floor. In fact, 
their proposed spending bill actually costs America 700,000 jobs.
  Now, Speaker Boehner has brought his own pet project bill to the 
House floor that imposes his desire to privatize public education in 
the District of Columbia, and he doesn't even represent the District. 
This bill would reauthorize the failed Washington, D.C., private school 
voucher program and open it to new students, funneling millions in new 
Federal spending to private schools at taxpayer expense. And yet, for 
the last 5 years, the voucher program has proven to be flawed and 
ineffective.
  The voucher program has not been successful in raising student 
academic achievement. It has had no impact on student motivation and 
engagement. The program has had no effect on student satisfaction with 
their schools or on whether students view their schools as safe and 
orderly. And voucher students were less likely to have access to 
important services, such as programs for English language learners, 
programs for students with learning problems, counseling, and tutoring. 
Vouchers are an experiment that has been tried and has failed.
  This anti-education bill comes at a time when the Republican 
leadership is proposing drastic reductions in Federal spending, 
including a House-passed bill slashing billions from core education 
programs. Vouchers are not real education reform. They don't solve 
problems. They ignore them.
  Rather than offering an empty promise for a few, we should be 
ensuring that every child has access to a great public school. And 
instead of taking money out of public schools for private schools, 
Congress should be investing in strategies to improve school 
achievement. Our focus should be on strategies proven to increase 
student achievement, such as increasing parental involvement, 
strengthening teacher training, and reducing class size. And our goal 
should be to prepare all students for the jobs of the future, not to 
allow a few students and parents to choose a private school at taxpayer 
expense.
  When public schools are struggling and teachers are being laid off, 
the last thing we need is to spend scarce taxpayer funds on private 
schools. And that's exactly what this legislation will do. Speaker 
Boehner's bill will increase the deficit by $300 million, $300 million 
that could go towards making sure America's public school students and 
public school teachers have the resources they need to succeed. Speaker 
Boehner's bill offers no offsets. It is an ideological effort to 
recreate a program that was ended years ago because it did not work.
  It is time for Republicans to stop playing political games with our 
public education and America's economic future. And so I ask my 
colleagues across the aisle to join with Democrats to reduce the 
deficit, protect our public schools, create jobs, and strengthen the 
middle class.

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