{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://harris.house.gov/media/press-releases/chairman-harris-pens-op-ed-need-more-school-choice-maryland", "Chairman Harris Pens Op-Ed On The Need For More School Choice In Maryland", "2023-09-07", "2023", "2023-09", "Republican", "House", "MD", "Andy Harris", "H001052", "harris.house.gov", "harris", "https://harris.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013Yesterday, Congressman Andy Harris M.D. (MD-01), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies published and op-ed in the Washington Examiner highlighting Maryland\u2019s many failing public schools and the need for more school choice.\n\nRep. Harris wrote: Over the next few weeks, thousands of Maryland children will walk through the doors of a public school in hopes of gaining an education under the Maryland public school blueprint of \u201cDelivering opportunity and the promise of a better future to every Maryland child.\u201d Sadly, for many of these children, and especially those in Baltimore City, the words of this blueprint are worth less than the paper on which they were printed.\n\nRep. Harris Continued: Despite pouring billions and billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars into Maryland\u2019s public school system, our state test results show the math and reading levels of Maryland students have gotten progressively worse \u2014 not better. Take, for instance, Baltimore City, which spends an average of $21,606 per student, making it the fourth best-funded school system in America, and yet 93% of Baltimore City\u2019s third through eighth grade students failed math last year. Just last month, our state student achievement scores came out showing less than 5% math proficiency in Baltimore County's seventh and eighth grades and less than 50% reading proficiency statewide in third grade.\n\nRead Congressman Harris\u2019 full op-ed here and below:\n\nThe Case For School Choice In Maryland\n\nOver the next few weeks, thousands of Maryland children will walk through the doors of a public school in hopes of gaining an education under the Maryland public school blueprint of \u201c Delivering opportunity and the promise of a better future to every Maryland child.\u201d Sadly, for many of these children, and especially those in Baltimore City, the words of this blueprint are worth less than the paper on which they were printed.\n\nIt\u2019s no secret that despite budget surpluses and billions of dollars in public funding, Maryland\u2019s government has failed to fix the epidemic of failing schools in our state. Instead, it has joined hands with the teachers\u2019 unions in promoting the same failing public schools that are actually hurting the educational success of our students. As a result, this school year thousands of Maryland parents will have no choice other than to send their children back to the same public schools that failed them the previous year.\n\nThis is why it is past time to offer school choice to all parents statewide \u2014 especially those whose children are in schools failing to educate them.\n\nWhile the teachers\u2019 unions and many politicians on the Left argue school choice does not improve education, numerous studies show a direct correlation between school choice and better math and reading levels. Researchers at the University of Arkansas\u2019s School Choice Demonstration Project developed an Education Freedom Index to measure school choice environments in the states and Washington, D.C., and found that school choice rankings strongly correlated with higher National Assessment of Education Progress scores for eighth grade math and reading. The study concluded , \u201cHigher levels of education freedom are significantly associated with higher NAEP achievement levels and higher NAEP achievement gains.\u201d\n\nDespite pouring billions and billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars into Maryland\u2019s public school system, our state test results show the math and reading levels of Maryland students have gotten progressively worse \u2014 not better. Take, for instance, Baltimore City, which spends an average of $21,606 per student, making it the fourth best-funded school system in America, and yet 93% of Baltimore City\u2019s third through eighth grade students failed math last year. Just last month, our state student achievement scores came out showing less than 5% math proficiency in Baltimore County's seventh and eighth grades and less than 50% reading proficiency statewide in third grade.\n\nI firmly believe Maryland families, and families across our country, deserve options to improve their children\u2019s education. We must increase parental access to Maryland\u2019s school choice program, Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today. BOOST provides scholarships to more than 2,500 low-income Maryland families and gives these children a chance at a quality education. According to the latest data available from the BOOST program, nearly $3 million has been awarded to families in Baltimore City alone. If properly and fully funded, parents whose children are in failing schools could access better quality education through the BOOST program.\n\nWe cannot tolerate the status quo when it comes to failing schools, especially for our underprivileged and minority youth who most need and deserve high-quality education. That\u2019s why in Congress, I am a strong advocate for school choice nationally and most recently voted for the Parents Bill of Rights \u2014 the only bill that enshrines parents\u2019 role as the primary educator and caretaker of their children.\n\nMaryland parents have spent years voicing their concerns about the state\u2019s poor student achievement results, the increased promotion of woke curricula in the classroom, and the need for access to school choice. To this day, their voices have not been heard, which is a violation of parents\u2019 fundamental rights.\n\nIt is time to change that. We cannot continue funding the same public-school systems that are failing to properly educate our children and focusing instead on a woke agenda far removed from the basic purpose of education, which is to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. If a child is struggling in a failing public school, parents deserve access to school choice so that they can deliver the opportunity of a better education to their children.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:37:48Z"]], "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://harris.house.gov/media/press-releases/chairman-harris-pens-op-ed-need-more-school-choice-maryland"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8743000216782093, "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"}