Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman John Culberson (TX-07) issued the following statement after the House passed his amendment to H.R. 5, the Student Success Act by a vote of 227 to 196.
“My amendment restores State sovereignty over public education and parental rights over the education of their children by giving States the opportunity to accept or reject federal education grant money and will dedicate any unused funds to deficit reduction.
“Last year, States received $68 billion in federal education grant money. Every single dollar tied the hands of state and local officials and subjected them to burdensome federal mandates. My amendment requires the Department of Education to tell States what strings are attached to federal funding up front so that States know what they are agreeing to. States may then opt into the federal grant funding. Today, all federal grant programs are opt-out, which almost never happens.
“After today, with the adoption of my amendment, education grant dollars will become opt-in, and locally elected State legislators will decide what federal dollars and which federal strings to accept. Afterwards, the only federal control left over public education will be equal protection and due process under the 14th Amendment and whatever residual federal control the State legislature agrees to. Tax dollars left unspent, by Texas, for example, cannot be spent by other states but must be used to reduce the deficit.
“My amendment is supported by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAW). I am very grateful for their support, and I am especially grateful to Chairman John Kline for his guidance and support.”
The full amendment is attached, and a video of Congressman Culberson’s floor remarks on the amendment is available online here.
