Alma Adams Lambasts GOP Push For School Choice: ‘This Agenda Pulls Benefits Away From Them’

2 hours ago

During Tuesday’s House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing, Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) questioned experts about school choice and education funding.

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00:00Ms. Adams from North Carolina is recognized for five minutes. Thank you Mr. Chairman and

00:04thank you to the witnesses for your testimony and for being here. I know that

00:10we all want what's best for students but let's be clear this isn't about choice

00:18it's about privatization. Now I went to public schools, my children went to

00:24public schools, my grandchildren as well. I taught 40 years as a college

00:29professor and prepared students to become teachers so I know a little bit

00:34about this but 84 percent of American kids are in public schools. Instead of

00:39strengthening them this agenda pulls funding away. Sending taxpayer dollars to

00:45private schools with little oversight and no accountability. Now I've always

00:51been about fairness Mr. Chairman and so I'm going to request that we hold the

00:56hearing on investing in public schools because public schools aren't failing

01:00they're being failed and if we care about our kids we should be investing

01:05in public education not undermining it. So Ms. Levine my question to you we know

01:11that diverse schools benefit students in real measurable ways, higher academic

01:18achievement, better college and career outcomes, even higher lifetime earnings.

01:23Yet despite our country being more diverse than ever our public schools

01:27remain deeply segregated and the numbers are getting worse. A 2022 GAO report

01:34found that more than one in three public K through 12 students attends a racially

01:40segregated school and so my question is what impact do school choice and voucher

01:46programs have on segregation? Do they increase diversity and access or do they

01:51just reinforce existing inequalities? Thank you for the question and I also

01:57thank you for focusing on the research and facts rather than ad hominem attacks.

02:02Private school choice programs have been shown and research continues to come out

02:07showing that they increase segregative effects in public school systems and in

02:11private schools. I also think it's very important to note that these programs

02:14were popularized in the modern era not just by Milton Friedman but by

02:17segregationists who are trying to avoid the integration mandate in Brown

02:21versus Board of Education and I think that we need a very strong justification

02:25for continuing a policy that has those ugly origins and we don't have it

02:29because those policies continue segregative effects today. Thank you. So

02:32when public schools mismanage funds there's oversight, there's accountability

02:38and there are consequences but with private voucher schools we're seeing

02:43cases where taxpayer dollars are flowing to schools that that barely exist or in

02:48some cases don't exist at all. I represent North Carolina's 12th District.

02:53We had a school taking public money but the state couldn't even confirm where it

02:59was physically located and so the State Bureau of Investigation had to step in.

03:04So tell me what's stopping this kind of thing from happening more often and what

03:09safeguards should be in place to ensure the taxpayer dollars aren't being

03:13misused in private voucher programs? There's there's almost nothing stopping

03:19it and I can tell you from having read hundreds of voucher bills over the years

03:23that they are having fewer and fewer accountability and transparency measures.

03:27This is a deliberate choice by legislators because they do know about

03:31the fraud, abuse and waste that happens in many states including North Carolina.

03:34There is no type of amendment or reform that can make a private school voucher

03:39program a good public policy not to mention constitutional under state law

03:44but if we are going to give money to private schools we have to ask why are

03:49we not subjecting them to any of the accountability requirements that apply

03:52to public. Thank you. So President Trump says that he had nothing to do with

03:56Project 2025 but let's be clear the plan is right there in black and white a

04:0110-year roadmap to completely dismantle the federal role in k-12 education and

04:07so I'm here to stand up for our students but it alarmingly seems that

04:11President Trump has a different vision one that puts low-income students and

04:15students with disabilities at severe risk and so Secretary McMahon she's

04:21already laying the groundwork to make that happen in federal k-12 funding if

04:28it disappears funding that keeps the light on in classrooms and support

04:32special education and ensures low-income kids get the resources they

04:36need what does that actually look like for the schools and communities that

04:40rely on this support Miss Levine cutting federal education funding would be

04:45devastating especially to districts that rely heavily on title one funding for

04:48low-income students IDEA funding for students with disabilities McKinney

04:52Vento funding and many others it would mean that those districts would not have

04:56the resources they're already under resourced they would lose even further

04:59on essential services thank you very much mr. chairman I asked a question

05:04earlier in the beginning I certainly hope you would take it into

05:07consideration that we have a hearing that would address the public education

05:12and the importance of that thank you very much I yield back

Alma Adams Lambasts GOP Push For School Choice: ‘This Agenda Pulls Benefits Away From Them’

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