House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

(CNSNews.com) – At a rally to celebrate National School Choice Week, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said every parent should have the right to send their children to the school of their choice.

“Every parent should have the chance to choose a decent school for your child,” Ryan said, surrounded by children from Sacred Heart Catholic School in D.C. who carried signs emblazoned with messages such as “Put Kids First” and “Got Choice?”

Ryan said that attending school should not be limited by one’s zip code.

“That is just wrong,” Ryan said. “In America, we think much, much bigger than that.

In America, we believe that the condition of your birth does not affect the outcome of your life.”

Ryan praised President Donald Trump’s pick for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, and said the scholarship program to allow low-income children in the District of Columbia to attend private and religious schools, which was ended by President Barack Obama, would be expanded by the Republican-led Congress.

“We finally have a president and vice president who believe in school choice,” said the House Speaker. “And soon we will have a new education secretary who believes in school choice.”

(CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

“We are working to expand the Opportunity Scholarship Program, and we will make it a priority this spring,” Ryan said.