From our media partners at 24-Hour News 8/WOODTV...
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash addressed supporters and critics Thursday night during a town hall meeting in Grand Rapids.
Amash, a Republican now in his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, told 24 Hour News 8 that it’s important to hear from the constituents in his district about what issues are important to them.
Speaking one-on-one with 24 Hour News 8 before the town hall, Amash discussed legislation he’s co-sponsoring to eliminate the federal Department of Education — despite showing support for newly-confirmed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
The congressman says it’s a piece of legislation he has supported since well before DeVos was nominated and that it just happened to be introduced on the same day of her confirmation. He said he wants to see power given back to the teachers and parents in public schools.
“That doesn’t mean hurting public schools, it means helping public schools. Here in Michigan, we have a Department of Education. This is a state’s responsibility under our Constitution, not the federal government’s. What happens when you have tax dollars sent to the federal government is that they get mixed up in the bureaucracy and then strings are attached and they’re sent back at pennies on the dollar, so you end up with less funding for schools by having a Department of Education,” Amash argued.
He said it’s a longshot that the bill will be passed.
“But it’s important that we stick out a principled position, that we say what we’re about and we identify the problems with our education system,” Amash said.
He said he hasn’t spoken to DeVos about the bill and doesn’t know whether she thinks it’s a good idea, but added he thinks she would agree that more control should be given to local governments.
For more on this story, visit WOODTV.com.