The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning, secretary devos. Welcome this morning. Welcome to the subcommittee. This is our second budget hear ing of the year. Today as i was reviewing the budget materials, madam secretary, this much was clear to me. I believe and ive had this conversation before with you, i believe for our student and our country. Instead we need to expand things like childhood education that we know helps students to succeed. We see this in other countries around the globe. They are not shrinking public support but, in fact, are expanding it. Ill get more into the consequences of the cuts you are proposing. But i want to start by examining your privatization philosophy. The full premise on which it is built and the research that it ignores. Contrary to your claims, the nations Public Education system which 90 of our children attend has witnessed significant progress for all groups of students over the last 30 years. Average mathematic scores have improved for