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Floor Speech

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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 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.

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