Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and colleagues. We need to ensure our education system is preparing our youth for meaningful and fulfilling lives. We need more focus on setting performance goals, measuring that performance, publicly reporting on it and striving to improve it. Graduation rates as we currently measure them may not be meeting our needs.

Mr. Speaker, some of these issues are difficult and uncomfortable to address, and we certainly do not have all the answers and have to be careful not to point fingers at our schools and teachers. Certainly parents need to shoulder as much responsibility for supporting the goals and aspirations of our youth. It is hard to imagine that our performance will improve, Mr. Speaker, if we assume no learning takes place after 3:00 p.m.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue to support improvement in our education system for the sake of our youth. Thank you.

-- Applause