Rand Paul Schools Letterman

David Letterman: The school system is bereft. It needs attention. It has fallen behind. We are embarrassingly trailing other nations in terms of public schools.

Rand Paul: Yes, we can agree. We can agree to the problem, but here’s the rub. In Washington, D.C., we spend $20,000 per pupil and we still have a crummy school system. It’s failing our kids; our kids are dropping out. Half of them are dropping out before they finish high school…their scores are abysmal…and we spend more and more money. So money’s not always the answer. You have to do something, but I think part of the problem is we’ve taken education from the local sphere and now we control it from Washington and I think that’s been a mistake.

Letterman: Well, something has gone haywire because it’s not working and I’m sure I agree with that argument but if we’re going to throw money at something, why not education? Let’s just see if it improves somehow.

Paul: Well, I think competition makes things better. You have to compete with other late-night comedians; I have to compete with other physicians. I think competition makes us better. Think if you didn’t have that guy, what’s his name, you have to compete with?

Letterman: You know, I think he’s wrong about some of these things. I just can’t tell you why.