Buck Statement on National School Choice Week

Statement

This week Americans across the country celebrate National School Choice Week. Congressman Ken Buck is a strong supporter of educational choice and released the following statement:

"The issue of school choice is a limited government issue. We have to decide how much control the federal government should have over our children's education. I believe parents and local leaders are best equipped to make these decisions, because they know the unique needs of their students. Yet some lawmakers and bureaucrats still want to centralize control over education in Washington. They view school choice as a threat because these successful programs hold a mirror up to the failures of the education system in this country. That is precisely one of the most compelling reasons to champion and support school choice. These programs are an innovative way for children from low-income families to access the quality education they deserve -- that they may not be receiving elsewhere -- and they create an environment in which all educators can be held to higher standards.

In my own state of Colorado, the issue of school choice has gone all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court in the case of Taxpayers v. Douglas County Board of Education. A decision by the Colorado Court of Appeals in 2013, which overturned an injunction placed on the Douglas County Choice Scholarship Program, was a victory for students in Colorado. School choice gives parents in Colorado control and makes education dollars more mobile. Now the fate of this successful school-choice program lies in the balance, as the Colorado Supreme Court prepares to make its ruling. As a lawmaker, I will continue to promote the value of educational choice and the innovative solutions created by school-choice programs."

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