Owens Blasts Education Bureaucracy
"Parents know what’s best for their kids—why are we denying them the right to choose a better education?"
WASHINGTON — Education and the Workforce Committee Vice Chair Burgess Owens (R-UT) participated in a full committee hearing titled “The State of American Education.”
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During the hearing, Rep. Owens outlined the urgent need for school choice, accountability, and innovation in U.S. education policy. He emphasized that America spends more per student than almost any other country yet sees dismal results, particularly among minority and low-income students:
“First of all, we can all agree based on recent results that our present educational system is failing our children miserably. We pay more per child than any other industrialized country except Luxembourg. And yet, 60% of our fourth graders and 70% of our eighth graders are failing in reading and math. This is unacceptable. Our children deserve better,” said Owens.
Rep. Owens specifically pointed out the alarming failure rates among Black students:
“When you have Black mothers and fathers lining up to get into a voucher program because they’re stuck in failing school districts, and we still refuse to give them options, that is a disgrace. We need to start looking at other people’s children the way we look at our own,” said Owens.
Rep. Owens first questioned Nicole Neily, President of Parents Defending Education, on the misuse of education funding, specifically the millions of dollars allocated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultants rather than direct student support.
Neily confirmed that DEI consultants have been paid exorbitant amounts for programs that divide students rather than educate them:
“We identified over a hundred consultants with hundreds of contracts in dozens of districts across the country, making money hand over fist—encouraging districts to do things like ‘privilege walks’ and ‘privilege bingo,’ which do nothing to help children succeed academically,” said Neily.
Rep. Owens also questioned Dr. Preston Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about the College Cost Reduction Act, legislation Rep. Owens cosponsored, and whether accountability measures would negatively impact low-income students.
Dr. Cooper pushed back on critics, stating:
“Our analysis found the exact opposite. Open-access institutions like community colleges and regional public universities would actually benefit from the accountability measures because the bill rewards schools that enroll and successfully graduate low-income students at a reasonable cost,” said Cooper.
Rep. Owens concluded his testimony with a call for innovative solutions:
“We cannot continue failing our students while pretending the system is working. It’s time for real accountability, real innovation, and real choice for parents. Education should be about our kids, not about protecting failing institutions,” said Owens.
The full hearing is available here.
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