{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-burlison-opens-hearing-school-choice-expansion", "Rep. Burlison Opens Hearing on School Choice Expansion", "2025-09-17", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Eric Burlison", "B001316", "burlison.house.gov", "burlison", "https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) delivered opening remarks at today\u2019s hearing on \u201cOpening Doors to Opportunity: The Promise of Expanded School Choice and Alternatives to Four-Year College Degrees.\u201d In his opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman Burlison noted the decline in American education prior to the expansion of school choice programs and the failure of post-secondary education institutions to prepare college graduates for meeting the needs of the U.S. economy. Subcommittee Chairman Burlison also highlighted the benefits of school choice programs on academic success and how school choice provided through the One Big Beautiful Bill saves American taxpayers money.\n\nWATCH: Rep. Burlison's Opening Remarks\n\nBelow are Subcommittee Chairman Burlison\u2019s prepared remarks:\n\nPlato once said, \u201cThe direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.\u201d\n\nThat is a truth that echoes across the millennia for men and women today: education is the foundation of a flourishing society and individual. And yet, in America today, our educational foundation has seen cracks and has been crumbling for years.\n\nThat jeopardizes American prosperity.\n\nFor 25 years, reading and math proficiency have flatlined. Our children are not flourishing\u2014they are falling behind.\n\nMeanwhile, the bureaucratic behemoth of traditional K-12 education has only grown larger, measuring its success less by learning outcomes and overall flourishment and more by one narrow metric: college admissions.\n\nFor many decades, college has been thought of as the key to success in America\u2014college degrees guaranteed high paying, comfortable jobs.\n\nBut the promise of college as a guaranteed path to prosperity is now waning. Half of the undergraduate class of 2023 now works in jobs that don\u2019t even require a degree.\n\nEntry-level white-collar positions are disappearing as our economy changes and the use of artificial intelligence rises. The U.S. faces an unprecedented surplus of college graduates\u2014many buried in debt for decades, many holding degrees of little value in the marketplace.\n\nAt the same time, our economy is starved for what higher education refuses to supply: manufacturing technicians, skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen, engineers, and workers who can build and maintain the backbone of America.\n\nIt\u2019s time we reevaluate our education system.\n\nFortunately, President Trump and Congressional Republicans have made considerable efforts to challenge the traditional model.\n\nThe One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law earlier this year incentivizes the funding of scholarships and offers an opportunity for parents to send their children to the best schools.\n\nSchool choice is not a theory. It is freedom. It is competition. It is accountability. It is vital to the economic future of our country. It should be as American as apple pie and baseball.\n\nAnd alternative choices are not just needed at the K-12 level. They are also needed at the post-secondary level.\n\nRecent reporting from the Department of Labor highlights that, in the trades, the average salary after completion of an apprenticeship is $11,000 more than that of recent college graduates.\n\nCareers in the trades, as we will hear from our witnesses today, are vital, offer high paying jobs, and provide ample opportunities across our nation.\n\nEducation and training programs are vital to prepare young people to take advantage of these opportunities. They pass on critical learning that upholds and strengthens businesses and local economies.\n\nAmerica needs more post-secondary educational alternatives to prepare young people for these rewarding careers\u2014alternatives that offer clear-cut and viable opportunities compared to underperforming 4-year college programs.\n\nAmerica\u2019s youth and families deserve\u2014and America\u2019s economy demands\u2014educational and career training choices that better fit students\u2019, families\u2019 and communities\u2019 needs.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-burlison-opens-hearing-school-choice-expansion"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.100264023989439, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}