Introducing Freshman Republican Members

Floor Speech

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Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Louisiana for the kind words and gracious introduction.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk with respect to School Choice Week here in the United States and to address the dire need for education reform across our country.

As a child, I attended public schools. In New York, we have some truly phenomenal public schools. When I was in second grade, I was among the youngest people in my class with a September birthday, and my teacher, an immigrant from Russia, said to my parents that she felt it was important for me to be left back because I needed time to mature and grow.

My parents were open to the idea so long as she was my teacher again, and at the time, that was not the program. They would give you another teacher within the grade.

So, my parents pushed until the school acquiesced and allowed her to teach me a second time. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it gave me the opportunity to grow, to mature, to develop. I went from being one of the youngest in my class to the oldest in my class, and that had a profound impact on me.

As my colleague pointed out, when I graduated college, I graduated as the valedictorian of my class. I don't say that as a bragging point; I say it as the result, the direct impact, that that moment had on my life from an education standpoint.

As I think about education and the impact that it has on our communities and our children, I believe in school choice. I believe not only in the right of parents to choose what education is best for their child but in the right of a child to get the education that will put them on a path to success in their careers, an education that will accentuate their skills and their talents.

Whether that is a public school education or a private school education, a charter school or a vocational school, those options must be available to every child. No child should ever be victim to a poor education because of their parent's wealth or their ZIP Code.

Too often, we see that children are left in substandard schools because of politics, and it is wrong. As I mentioned, I am a product of public schools. My sister-in-law is a special education teacher in the very district that I graduated from. She is part of the teachers union. I respect and admire our teachers across America who provide a valuable education to our children, but we must ensure, number one, that every child has access to a quality education and, number two, that parents, not bureaucrats, certainly not the teachers union, have a say over their child's education.

As we recognize School Choice Week, I think it is important to recognize the quality education that is provided in our public schools, yes, but also in our private schools, our religious schools, our parochial schools, and yeshivas. They provide an important education, not just with respect to the basics of math, science, English, and history, but a religious foundation that plays such a pivotal role in a child's life.

We must recognize the role vocational schools play. At a young age, we should be helping children identify what their skills are, what their talents are, what their interests are so that they have a path to success.

Not everyone is meant to go to college. College is a great thing. As somebody who graduated at the top of my class, I believe in a college education, but it is not necessary for everyone.

In this country, some of our most successful people don't have college degrees. They went the route of a vocational school. They own and operate their own business within the trades. They employ hundreds, if not thousands, of people. They contribute greatly to our economy and communities.

For me, as we move forward, we need to continue to invest critical resources in education at the Federal level, at the State level, and at the local level. We need to protect local control of schools, and we need to protect the rights of parents when it comes to their child's education.

All of this is so critical as we move forward to ensure that our children have a bright future and that they are productive and contributing members of our society.

Education is the civil rights issue of our generation. It is so critical to ensure that every child receives the quality education they are entitled to.

When we look at what has happened over the last few years, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, where so many schools were shut down and children were forced to learn remotely, we saw devastating impacts and irreparable harm put upon our children. Nine-year-olds lost ground in math for the first time since the 1970s. Scores in reading fell by the largest margin in more than 30 years.

The damage was not felt equally across all demographics. Schools that remained open, or were closed for a shorter duration, did not see the same decline in student performance. Unfortunately, high-poverty districts that went remote for a majority of the pandemic will need to spend nearly all of their Federal education aid just to recover from these losses.

Such disparities are not new, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shone new light on issues that have been plaguing many communities for a long time.

Students in poor communities, whether they are urban or rural, tend to have lower test scores, literacy rates, and graduation rates than their peers. Meanwhile, the presence of alternatives to underperforming schools has been able to improve student outcomes substantially, slashing the achievement gap.

In the two decades since school choice programs were enacted in Florida, fourth grade reading performance rose 26 percent among African-American students, 27 percent among Hispanic students, and 29 percent among students from low-income households. Similarly, math performance rose 27 points among African-American students, 19 points among Hispanic students, and 21 points among low-income students.

In my State of New York, charter schools have made a big difference in some of the same students that struggle. According to 2019 test scores, 63 percent of charter school students in grades three through eight passed the State math exam compared to 46 percent for traditional public school students. Additionally, 57 percent of charter school students in the same grade levels were proficient in English language arts while the percentage for traditional public school students was 47 percent.

Any discussion on education reform must include school choice and support for it and support for our vocational schools, parochial schools, traditional private schools, and charter schools. We have to have an all-of-the-above approach. We need to empower communities, parents, and students, as well as our educators, to ensure that every child gets the education they deserve.

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