Improve education, reduce cost with more choice, local control

As a father, I want to make sure my daughters, and all children, have the best opportunity possible to pursue their dreams and succeed in life.

That is why, as your congressman, I am fighting to give our kids the best chance to reach their potential by strengthening education at every level, and by making higher education more affordable and accessible.

No child should be trapped in a failing school. So to reform K-12 education, I voted for the Every Student Succeeds Act which has been signed into law. This law overhauled the No Child Left Behind Act to restore local control of education, promote school choice by strengthening charter and magnet school programs and allow states to set their own high standards and assessments.

These reforms will allow better decisions to be made at the local level and will encourage schools to improve quality through competition.

To give more Americans the opportunity to complete a higher education, we need to preserve and enhance choices for students. More choice would drive all institutions to compete for students with higher quality instruction and lower costs.

We also need to make college more affordable. Over the past decade the average price for a four-year degree has increased by 26 percent, and the average graduate now owes more than $35,000 in student loan debt.

In 2013, I voted for legislation which prevented student loan rates from doubling and gave parents and students greater certainty. I also supported legislation to enhance counseling for student loan borrowers. And while these were positive reforms, the underlying cause of the problem remains unsolved: over 90 percent of student loans are now owned by the federal government. The takeover of this industry by the government has been a disaster for borrowers and taxpayers.

Some candidates recommend more spending and borrowing, but this would only put more students and taxpayers at risk. I believe we need to rethink the role of the federal government in student lending and whether it makes sense to have the federal government lending nearly $100 billion a year to students.

Certainly, greater private sector participation in this market would be more efficient, more sustainable and less costly for students and taxpayers alike.

I am also committed to making sure American workers have the right skills even if that does not mean a four-year undergraduate degree. That is why I am a member of the Career and Technical Education Caucus, and I voted for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act which has also been signed into law.

WIOA streamlines confusing, duplicative and ineffective workforce development programs, encourages partnerships between employers and colleges and universities, supports employers that offer training opportunities and prioritizes work-based learning experiences.

Additionally, the House Republican Better Way to Fight Poverty plan, which I helped author, also proposes changes to job-training programs to make sure workers are matched with the skills needed to fill jobs in their communities. We also propose modernizing the Pell Grant program to allow students to use those grants year-round if they want to accelerate their coursework, making it easier to complete school and repay their loans. And our Better Way tax plan would simplify and consolidate higher-education tax benefits.

As your congressman, I will continue to fight for high quality, affordable education because I believe it is essential to the American dream — the idea that the condition of your birth does not determine the outcome of your life. This is what every child and every student deserve.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Improve education, reduce cost with more choice, local control."