WASHINGTON, D.C. - Parents stand to gain significant new power to choose the best education possible for their children under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind education plan, Secretary of Education Rod Paige and House GOP education leaders said today. The Republican leaders held a news conference on Capitol Hill celebrating enactment of expanded Education Savings Accounts for K-12 education expenses and passage of H.R. 1, the House version of President Bush’s education plan, which contains an array of important new options for parents.

            “Expanded parental choice is one of the key pillars of the President’s education plan,” Secretary Paige noted. The other pillars are accountability, research-based reform, and local control and flexibility.

            “Parents of all income levels and backgrounds deserve the chance to choose the best education possible for their children,” said House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH). “From education savings accounts to private tutoring to public and charter school choice, we’ve made some important breakthroughs in recent weeks on the road to parental empowerment.”

            “These changes represent a significant departure from the status quo and will empower low-income parents with new options and new choices. They represent an important step toward equal educational opportunity in America, though not by any means the final step,” Boehner said, noting that Senate will act today on an amendment by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to add a private school choice pilot program to the Senate version of President Bush’s bill.

            A summary of recent congressional steps to enact the President’s education plan and provide more choices for parents:

· Education Savings Accounts (ESAs): Just 48 hours after passing H.R. 1 - which gives parents new options by letting federal education dollars flow to private, faith-based tutors - the House voted to give parents even more options by passing the K-12 education savings accounts (ESAs) measure championed by the late Sen. Paul Coverdell as part of the final tax relief bill. The ESA expansion marks the first time ever that the federal tax code will help parents pay for private school tuition if they choose that option for their children. The tax relief bill allows parents to invest up to $2,000 annually in ESAs and permits tax-free withdrawals for both college tuition and elementary and secondary education, including private school tuition. ESAs embody the principle that parents can best choose where and how to educate their children. They will allow parents to save money for items such as computers, tutors, and books -- without paying taxes on interest that the accounts earn.

· Supplemental Services: Under H.R. 1, parents will choose from a list of providers that meet certain criteria to provide supplementary educational services -- including tutoring, after-school services, and summer school programs. Of note, private religious providers would be among those eligible to provide supplemental services as long as they are on the list developed by states in conjunction with local school districts. The precedent this sets cannot be overstated: For the first time ever, federal education dollars will be permitted to flow to private tutors and other educational service providers (including faith-based providers) - an important breakthrough.

· Public School Choice: H.R. 1 also extends school choice opportunities to children in chronically failing schools. It gives parents the option of removing their children from failing schools after one year of persistent failure and sending them to another, better-performing public school of their choice, including charter schools.

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