Aderholt Remarks at Hearing on Federal Investments in Elementary Education

Good morning. Thank you to our witnesses who have come to testify before us for this important hearing. Today, this subcommittee will examine the effectiveness of Federal K-12 funding and the importance of school choice. I look forward to learning more from our witnesses about the state of our public K-12 schools,  challenges facing these students, and the trends these experts are seeing in the field. 

America’s students are struggling.  There is no way to sugar coat this fact. The results from the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress showed student test scores overall are below 2019 levels in all grades and subjects. Students have still not recovered from the pandemic, and the lowest-achieving students are disproportionately falling further and further behind. One-third of eighth graders nationwide are currently reading below the basic level. 

The current system has failed these kids by leaving them wholly unprepared for the workforce. If this trend continues, the entire nation will suffer socially and economically. Other industrialized nations will continue to outpace us. 

In too many schools, education in core subjects like reading and math are being replaced by indoctrination. School administrators and teachers are too focused on social justice issues that schools were never meant to address and not focused enough on academic instruction and academic excellence. Unfortunately, schools are often using Federal funds to pursue these misguided, harmful agendas. 

As I have said before in this room, schools should be teaching kids how to think – not what to think. For the sake of their children, parents across the country are standing up, demanding change from administrators, and in some cases, looking for non­district schooling options for their kids. 

I am also pleased that the Trump Administration has taken several steps to champion school choice and eliminate divisive ideologies from K-12 education. I look forward to working with them over the next four years to make improvements to the system. 

While we will hear calls from some in this room today for more Federal spending on K-12 schools, the data tells another story. The Federal government appropriates $19 billion annually for block grants to states for Title one K-12 schools. During the COVID pandemic, Congress appropriated an additional $190 billion for K-12 schools. On average, federal funding comprises less than 10 percent of State education budgets.  In recent years, total Federal and state per­pupil spending on education has skyrocketed. 

Let’s be clear, taxpayers are spending more and more on education but getting worse results for our students – we need to pause and assess our efforts.  That’s exactly what the Administration is attempting to do. 

We have a big challenge ahead of us to turn the ship on student success. As it has often been said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Well, over and over again, Congress has opened its credit card and the efforts are not improving the outcomes. I hope this hearing will help highlight why we cannot simply continue to expect more Federal support to drive better outcomes in K-12 education. 

Before I turn to Ranking Member DeLauro for her remarks, I will introduce our panel of witnesses. First, we have Ms. Virginia Gentles from the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies.  She will share with us the challenges facing our schools, students, and parents today.

Next, we will hear from Dr. Lindsey Burke, who is the Director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation. Her research focuses on K-12 education reform and school choice.

We will also hear from Ms. Starlee Coleman, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, about the strong academic outcomes that charter schools are yielding for students despite limited federal funding.

And last, but not least, we will hear from Mr. Robert Kim from the Education Law Center, whose expertise includes civil and education rights law and policy. 

I want to thank each of these witnesses for coming to share their expertise with us today.  I know as Members of Congress, we will all demonstrate the respect and courtesy these leaders deserve.  This subcommittee, of course, will have ample opportunities to engage in vigorous debate over the size and scope of federal funding for education.  These witnesses, however, are here to share with us information within their particular areas of expertise. 

I would now like to turn to the Committee’s Ranking Member for any remarks she would like to make.