Washington, D.C. -- Under immense Democratic pressure, House Republican leaders today halted consideration of their education tax bill, which contained tax deductions that were essentially vouchers for private elementary and secondary schools.
As an alternative, Democrats had offered a proposal by Congressman Charles
Rangel of New York that provides $25 billion in interest-free bonds for school
modernization. This proposal, which has strong bipartisan support, provides
immediate relief for local communities to repair or replace existing public
school facilities.
"Today was a victory for public school education in America," said
House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi. "We had a clear choice to present to
the American people: Pass a proposal that gives nothing more than a promise
for private school vouchers, or pass a real bill that will give $25 billion
real dollars to our local school districts."
"The Republicans opted not debate these bills today because they knew that their plan to divert scarce resources to private schools could not win against a real and serious education proposal."
The Republican leadership pulled the bill from the House floor when it was apparent they did not have the votes to pass it, or to prevent passage of the Democratic proposal.
"It is clear the Republicans' education agenda is in disarray," said Pelosi. "They will not bring to the House floor the Administration's proposed budget for public education, because it would cut more than $7 billion from the "Leave No Child Behind Act,' leaving millions of children behind. And today they could not bring up a bill to subsidize private schools.
"That's because they know the American people understand that we must fully fund and modernize public schools, not subsidize private ones."
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