As a member of the Senate Education Committee, I have been working with my colleagues to craft a bill which ensures that all children learn. For too long, there has been little or no accountability to parents and students. Money alone is not enough. We must design a system which rewards schools that succeed in educating our children and which holds accountable those schools that continue to fail. In addition to demanding accountability, however, I believe that we must all provide schools with the flexibility to achieve their goals.
Individual schools have unique needs.
Our legislation recognizes that educators and parents, not Washington, D.C. bureaucrats, are best suited to decide how to spend education funds. Teachers should be in the classroom teaching, not filling out paperwork to meet federal requirements. Included in this legislation is a provision to assist rural school districts. Too often, our education system focuses only on urban education problems, while ignoring the unique obstacles faced by rural schools. The bill the Senate will consider would make supplemental funding available to rural schools and increase their flexibility in how federal funding is spent.