Paul Urges Colleagues to Improve Education by Expanding Freedom PDF Print E-mail
FOR RELEASE: September 29, 2000

Paul Urges Colleagues to Improve Education by Expanding Freedom Cites Study Demonstrating the Benefits of Increasing Parental Control over Schools

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Ron Paul sent a letter to his Congressional colleagues this week, urging their support for legislation designed to return control over the nation's schools to parents and local school districts. In his letter, Paul cited a recent study by the nonpartisan Manhattan Institute showing the positive effects of state policies promoting parental control over education.
The study confirmed that greater parental control is the key to beneficial education reform. According to the study, states that have adopted policies promoting localized parental control over education have seen a rise in standardized test scores. In fact, such states have seen SAT verbal scores increase an average of 21 points and SAT math scores increase an average of 22 points.
"These findings are hardly surprising," Paul stated. "When parents control the education system, they make sure their child receives an education which reflects his or her unique needs. In contrast, centralized control over education by federal bureaucrats has produced poor results, because the particular needs of each community are not considered. Washington politicians have imposed a one-size-fits-all model on the nation's schools, to the detriment of parents and local school districts. It is time to correct that mistake by ending the practice of forcing parents to send all of their education tax dollars to the federal government."
Paul has introduced the "Family Education Freedom Act" (H.R. 935), a bill which provides parents with a $3,000 per child tax credit for K-12 educational expenses. All parents with school age children qualify for the credit, regardless of whether their children attend public, private, parochial, or home-based schools. Parents may use their credit dollars for many purposes, including tuition payments for private schools, educational tools such as computers and musical instruments for public schools, or to establish scholarship funds. H.R. 935 would return millions of dollars directly to parents, putting them in charge of their children's education.
"I am glad to see such a prestigious study supporting what I have said all along," Paul concluded. "Parents across the country are tired of having Washington dictate how their local schools are run. Congressional support for the "Family Education Freedom Act" is needed to begin real education reform in this country."