District Of Columbia Home Rule Amendment Act
Floor Speech
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOME RULE AMENDMENT ACT -- (House of Representatives - May 08, 2007)
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
I rise today in support of H.R. 2080 which will implement the District of Columbia Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007. The legislation was passed by a 9-2 vote by the city council on April 19 and was signed by Mayor Fenty on April 23. Because the local bill includes amendments to the Home Rule Act, Congress must pass this bill for it to be effective. I make a special note that this legislation relies solely on local funds.
Before approving the bill, the city council held over 70 hours of hearings. I commend Mayor Fenty for proposing this bold change in governance and the city council for its careful deliberation and amendments to the original proposal.
Key elements of the local bill include streamlined educational responsibility, spending controls and consolidation of functions. The legislation is also intended to resolve issues that have festered between the D.C. public school system and charter schools.
Every city and county is entitled to govern its own school system as it sees
fit, and the District of Columbia ought not to be an exception.
The challenges that have faced the city's public schools are well-known and extensively documented. Congress needs to pass this legislation promptly to ensure these reforms can be in place before school begins again next August. Changes in educational procurement are particularly important. Recent reports of failing boilers and high levels of lead in school water fountains lend a sense of urgency to this bill.
I wish the mayor and the city council well as they assume enhanced responsibility for public education. They have asked through this legislation to be held to a much higher level of accountability, and I commend them for stepping up to the plate on this core function of local government.
This does not obviate the continuing need to provide an alternative to underperforming neighborhood schools. That is why the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program is so vital. Today, the program gives approximately 1,800 low-income students access to schools of their choice. Reauthorization of this excellent program, which will be required by 2008, is necessary as part of our vision to expand and improve opportunities for D.C. students.
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