House Education and Workforce Hearing: The State of American Education
On Wednesday, Chairman Tim Wahlberg (R-MI) led the House Education and Workforce Committee's inaugural full committee hearing titled "The State of American Education."
This session, framed as an "examination" of K-12 education in the U.S., featured testimonies from four witnesses: Mrs. Nicole Neily (President, Parents Defending Education), Dr. Preston Cooper (Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute), Mrs. Janai Nelson (President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund), and Mr. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. (President and CEO, Society for Human Resource Management). The hearing elevated concerns about student performance as reflected in the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Private school choice emerged as a contentious issue—Republican committee members lauded it for expanding student opportunities, while Democrats criticized it for undermining public school budgets and fostering segregation. Representative Jahanna Hayes (D-CT), a former educator, asked Nelson about the impacts of dismantling the U.S. Department of Education on children with disabilities. She responded that children with disabilities would be "bereft of any federal support without the Department of Education” noting that state and local entities do not have the capacity to conduct oversight of special education. Hayes and Nelson added that private school vouchers do not serve students eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and do not appear to be part of the conversation in support of private schools.
Lawmakers from both parties concurred on the importance of expanding access to career and technical education, enhancing support for students with disabilities, and finding practical solutions to improve the state of education in America.