Issue Position: Education & Special Education

Issue Position

I believe that education is first, last and always about our children. Every child, regardless of family income, should have the opportunity to receive a quality education. However, education is at a crisis in our country. Years of little accountability within America's public school system have left students largely unprepared to compete in today's global economy.

It is a widely-shared sentiment that schools need to do a better job of preparing students for the workplace. I believe that the federal government should get out of the education business and give the power to parents and the state and local authorities, who best know the curriculum. We need to increase the role of parents in the day-to-day education of their children and decrease the role of Washington. Parents should have the tools available to them to provide the best possible education for their children.

Education is not an issue we can just throw money at. No matter how much money that local, state and the federal governments designate for education, many children in the United States are seemingly unable to improve their test scores on performance exams. The real problem lies in any opposition to reform and competition and entrenched special interests in the education sector.

For too long, states and school districts have been inundated with federal intervention and bureaucratic red tape that has done little to improve student performance. It is time to eliminate wasteful and duplicative federal programs and grant states and local school districts the freedom to direct federal resources to the programs that best serve their students.

High standards, accountability for results, local control, transparency and parental choice are essential to improving our education system. I support efforts to return educational decision-making to parents, teachers, and local school administrators. I also strongly support legislation to require that 95 percent of all federal education dollars be spent in the classroom--not on regulation and bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.

I also support continued diversity and choice in our higher education system in order to best prepare today's students to join tomorrow's workforce. Although in recent years, President Obama and Democrats acted to increase the federal role in higher education, I am committed to reevaluating and reducing the federal role in higher education. Any federal intervention in higher education should increasingly be focused not solely on financial aid, but on policies that maximize innovation and ensure a robust menu of options from which students and their families are able to choose. We must continue to pursue sensible policies that encourage competition, enhance transparency and simplify regulatory burden that often contributes to cost increases on campus.

In the current 113th Congress, I have cosponsored and voted in favor of several pieces of legislation designed to address the various issues facing our nation's education system:

H.R. 2456 -- The A PLUS Act: On June 20, 2013, Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) introduced H.R. 2456 in the House. I am a cosponsor of The A PLUS Act along with more than 30 of my House colleagues. H.R. 2456 would give states the flexibility to consolidate federal education programs and funding and redirect these resources to result-oriented state education initiatives. Currently, the U.S. Department of Education forces states to use federal education funds on specific programs in an approach that has shown little success.

H.R. 5 -- Student Success Act: On July 19, 2013, the House, with my support, passed the Student Success Act. Unfortunately, the Senate has chosen to not take up this legislation. H.R. 5 would put an end to the federal government's overreach in our nation's classrooms and empower communities to fix our broken education system. It would restore local control, reduce the federal footprint in the nation's classrooms, support more effective teachers and empower parents. For more information on the Student Success Act, please visit the House Education and Workforce Committee's website: http://edworkforce.house.gov/studentsuccessact/default.aspx.

H.R. 1911 -- Smarter Solutions for Students Act / Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013: On May 9, 2013, Congressman John Kline (R-MN), Chairman of the House Education and Workforce, introduced H.R. 1911 in the House. On May 23, 2013, the House, with my support, passed the Smarter Solutions for Students Act to return all federal student loans (except Perkins loans) back to a market-based interest rate. On July 24, 2013, the Senate amended and passed H.R. 1911, renamed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013. The House passed this final version with my support on July 31, 2013, and President Obama signed it into law on August 9, 2013.

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