Rep. Burgess Owens advocates for free market and family values in American education at Sutherland Institute talk

Speaking to a room full of students at the University of Utah Tuesday, Rep. Burgess Owens stressed the importance of meritocracy and the free market in bettering the U.S. education system.

Owens spoke at the university’s Hinckley Institute of Politics as part of the Sutherland Institute’s 2024 Congressional Series, where he said American values can bring respite from today’s partisan climate.

“Utah is very, very unique,” Owens said. The state’s young residents who serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints come back not just with knowledge of different cultures, but also an appreciation for their country, Owens said.

The Beehive State also embodies a culture of compassion and hard work, he said, noting the state’s status as one with the highest number of entrepreneurs.

His work on the House Education and Workforce Committee focuses on making sure the next generation is “capable of generating businesses here and supporting businesses here,” Owens said. “We don’t want to export our kids. We want our kids to grow and stay with us here.”

“We have the kind of educational system that allows our kids to choose and pick, whether it be higher ed, (or) a high-tech career. We have all those options here, and that choice is very important. We’re going to continue to be better at that,” Owens said. While there’s room for improvement, Utah gets a lot right and can serve as a model for the rest of the country, he added.

School of choice and free market go hand in hand

Regardless of whether a school is private or public, if it fails to teach children, “it needs to be out of business,” said Owens. According to him, the free market should be given a chance to weed out educational institutions that can’t teach children successfully.

In 2017, one in three Black students in California’s public schools passed the standardized test for English, and only one in five achieved grade level in math. Among 13 of the public high schools in Baltimore, Maryland, not one student scored a proficient score in math last year, Owens said. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, test scores across the nation show students struggling with learning loss.

Despite strong support for school choice among parents of color, Owens said, Democrats have time and again voted against allowing parents to pick the educational institution right for their child.

His Educational Choice for Children Act would give parents more autonomy over their children’s schooling. The bill would create scholarships for students in K-12 to pay for tutoring, special needs services, homeschooling curriculum materials, education technology, and other educational needs. Individuals and businesses would receive tax credits for contributing to the scholarships, and a school district’s funding would remain untouched.

The House Education and Workforce Committee has also proposed the Parents Bill of Rights Act, which would affirm parents’ right to know what goes on at school, whether it’s the curriculum, the school’s budget or a violent incident.

“We want to protect our children. We want to be heard as parents,” Owens said.

College culture is changing

When it comes to higher education, Owens said parents need to consider their return on investment in four-year colleges that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Students shouldn’t have to graduate with debt, but colleges aren’t held accountable for issuing “a degree (that) means absolutely nothing,” he said.

He pointed to the College Cost Reduction Act, a bill he cosponsored. The legislation seeks to double the maximum Pell Grant awards juniors and seniors can receive. According to the American Council on Education , a higher education association, it would also “prevent interest from capitalizing on student loans, simplify the student loan repayment process, and require students to only pay back what they would have owed on a 10-year standard repayment plan.” Owens said this bill would help level the playing field.

The GOP congressman recalled his time growing up and going to school during segregation. “I was so proud to be a Black American, so proud of America, and so excited about going out to prove myself, because that’s what our parents were teaching us,” he said. But Owens said he has seen the Black family unit crumble in the past few decades, and he worries family values are deteriorating among all young people.

“My dad was the disciplinarian in my household,” Owens said. His parting advice to the students was to, “Learn to love God, country, family and respect women and authority.”