I have no problems with private schools. I graduated from one and so did my mother. Private schools are useful and we often use public funds to pay for their infrastructures and other common needs.

In this remark, Clyburn frames a pragmatic, non-ideological stance toward private education. By noting that he and his mother attended private schools, he preempts accusations of hostility to private institutions and signals personal familiarity. The second sentence shifts from personal testimony to public policy: private schools, he argues, can serve a social purpose and already benefit—directly or indirectly—from public spending on shared civic needs (such as infrastructure). The underlying implication is that debates over school funding should acknowledge existing public support for private institutions and focus on fairness, accountability, and the public interest rather than treating “public vs. private” as an absolute divide.