National School Choice Week

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, this week is an opportunity to highlight the importance of parental choice in education, and the success that children find when they are able to choose an educational pathway that suits their individual needs. Be it through public, charter, private, or home schools, as well as other forms of educational services that may be tailored to the educational needs of our kids, we should continue our work to provide students with a viable and proven route to a better education.

In particular, I want to recognize my home State of South Carolina for our continuous work in expanding school choice initiatives. Since 2013, when South Carolina's general assembly enacted the Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children, which helps children with disabilities gain an education personalized to their own unique needs, South Carolina has been on the forefront of the school choice movement. That is clearly on display this week, as South Carolina's National School Choice Rally will feature its largest rates of participation yet, with over 3,000 parents, advocates, and students lending their voice and support to school choice.

On the Federal level, I have submitted legislation to free up access to educational resources for America's least fortunate students. I have sponsored legislation that would make IDEA funds portable and create a school choice pilot program for military families, as well as bipartisan legislation with Senators Feinstein, Johnson, and Booker to reauthorize and improve the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, the Nation's only federally supported school choice program.

I believe we must continue this work to promote parental choice. Reforms to our educational system should empower parents and students, not bureaucrats, to choose the educational option that best meets their unique needs. Because when parents have better choices, their kids have a better chance.

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