Statement by Luke Messer on the President’s State of the Union Address

If history is any guide, the President will not address the state of K-12 education in America tonight. He may talk about record sums of Covid money that has poured into the system over the last two years, but he won’t address what’s truly on the minds of America’s parents.

In every poll, voters continue to say that education is a top issue and voters continue to say emphatically that they support school choice. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Latinos, African Americans, Millennials and, most of all Parents, strongly support having more K-12 options for their children.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores released last year were generally dismal. One exception to that trend was Catholic schools, which largely remained open for in-person learning during the pandemic. Learning loss for America’s K-12 students is a catastrophic problem that can’t be solved by spending alone.

Parents across the country are also weary of woke schools more focused on imparting a political viewpoint than on imparting knowledge that will improve educational outcomes. School choice gives those parents an option to take their child somewhere else.

It’s really very simple. America’s parents want the chance to ensure their child gets a quality education — an education that meets their child’s specific learning needs. Lower- and middle-income parents are demanding more school choice because they want the purchasing power to make the best educational decisions for their own children.

It’s past time for leaders in both parties to step forward and help these parents in need.

Luke Messer is a former Member of Congress from Indiana and is the President of Invest in Education. To learn more about Invest in Education, go here https://investineducation.org/.

Contact Information for Press Inquiries:
Jean Morrow at jmorrow@investineducation.org