Student Success Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota
for his work on this bill. It is a very important bill, and it is
certainly very applicable to what is going on in our country right now.

Mr. Chairman, Federal intervention in our Nation's classrooms is at
an alltime high, and the Obama administration continues to believe that
they think they know what is best for our children. However, despite
the continued intrusion into our children's classrooms, student
achievement remains stagnant.

Out of 34 countries, students in the U.S. rank 20th and 27th in
science and math respectively, so it is clear that our education system
is not adequately serving our children, and it is not going to be fixed
by Washington bureaucrats. Our education system can only be fixed by
parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, coaches, and community leaders--the
people who actually know what is best for our Nation's children.

That is why I am supporting H.R. 5. I am supporting this bill to put
some restraints on the administration, to rein in the Department of
Education, and to put the keys to our children's educations and futures
back in local control where it belongs.

It repeals out-of-touch teacher qualification programs, and it allows
State and local officials to determine who is qualified to teach their
children. It also eliminates 65 programs and creates a grant program
with greater flexibility for school districts.

We all know that children learn differently and at their own pace,
and without this bill, the Secretary of Education can prohibit funds
from being sent to States unless they adopt certain one-size-fits-all
standards, like Common Core.

I will be the first one to say that additional reforms to our
education system are needed. No, this is not the silver bullet, but it
is a great start, and it is a great bill. I support this bill, and I
urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source