Frederica Wilson Accuses GOP Of Pushing An ‘Insane Ploy To Destroy Public Education’

2 hours ago

During Tuesday’s House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) questioned experts about the consequences of school choice policy on public school funding.

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00:00Ms. Wilson from Florida on the Democrat side. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:07Public schools have to educate everyone. The gifted, the disabled, the wheelchair

00:17bound, the mentally challenged, the sick, the orphaned, the ungovernable, everyone.

00:29Charter and private schools cherry-pick and refuse entry to any child they do

00:39not want. They can do that, but public schools cannot, and that's wrong. With

00:49less funding, they have to handle everyone. It is unfair and it's an insane

00:57ploy to destroy public education and leave it in shambles, and I implore you

01:06to stop supporting charter schools and support our wonderful public schools.

01:14I am from Florida and I have seen what happens when we do this.

01:23Ms. Levin, in your statement, you state that many schools around the nation face

01:30chronic and severe underfunding. Diverting much-needed funding from

01:37public education to pay for private school vouchers exacerbates the lack of

01:43resources. I hearken back to a 2009 Miami-Dade School District report that

01:53questioned whether some public schools were attempting to select high-performing

02:00students for enrollment. The report found that advanced students were nearly twice

02:07as lucky to transfer to select private schools as to

02:14continue in their home schools. However, this selective enrollment is not unique

02:21to Miami. Across the country, this is creating a new segregated public school

02:29system. If the private schools are cherry-picking the best students,

02:35diverting funds, and not subject to the same oversight, of course they would have

02:43an advantage. How do we ensure that this does not happen?

02:49We ensure this doesn't happen by not funding voucher programs that have all

02:54the flaws that you've just articulated, and furthermore, by fully funding public

02:59schools where, of course, there are huge challenges, but where there are

03:04mechanisms and laws, and also the will of most of the people in this country to

03:08make things better. I do want to go back for one moment to the idea of

03:12demonizing families and individuals, because that is what you do when you

03:16don't have reasoned and evidence-backed arguments. Education Law Center and the

03:21scores of public education supporters around the country engage in respectful

03:25opposition to policies that, in our considered judgment, would hurt far more

03:30students than would help them, and we also oppose policymakers who support

03:34those policies who should know better. And just to be clear, I'm proud to stand

03:38shoulder-to-shoulder with educators across the country who are fighting for

03:41the same things. Thank you. I yield back.

Frederica Wilson Accuses GOP Of Pushing An ‘Insane Ploy To Destroy Public Education’

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