Remarks by Congresswoman Betty McCollum - National School Board Association

Remarks by Congresswoman Betty McCollum
National School Board Association
January 31, 2005

It is a pleasure being with you today. Welcome to Washington and I would like to extend a special welcome to all of my friends from the great state of Minnesota.

Tomorrow you will walk the halls of Congress advocating for our public schools, for our children, for our nation's future. Thank you! It is important work!

I count the school board members from my state as resources I rely on for information and their expertise. They are also among the most dedicated public servants I know.

All of your commitment and hard work on behalf of our children, parents and local taxpayers is both appreciated and respected. Thank you for all that you do to keep the foundation of our democracy - our public schools - strong and successful.

Tomorrow, as you meet with Senators and Representatives from your home states think of one word - accountability! Tomorrow is your opportunity to hold Members of Congress accountable - hold us accountable for our votes, our rhetoric, and our actions.

You know who is fighting for our children and fighting to fund our schools, and you know those Members of Congress who are - let me just say - failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for our public schools and our children.

For every Member of Congress you meet tomorrow, Republicans and Democrats.

Your questions deserve answers…

Representative, Senator, how are you going to fully fund Special Education - not just with promises, but with real money?

Representative, Senator, what are you doing to fix the mess created by No Child Left Behind - the mess Washington has passed on to local school districts and local tax payers?

And, finally - Senator, Representative, will you guarantee to strengthen our public schools and leave all vouchers behind? You can't vote for vouchers for private schools - even for schools here in DC - and claim to be a supporter of our public schools.

These are "high stakes" questions that demand answers - because what is at stake is the future of our public schools and our children.

In 2001, I was one of forty-one members of the House to vote AGAINST No Child Left Behind - against high stakes testing dictated by Washington; against sanctions and more unfunded mandates; against labeling our children's schools as failing and stigmatizing students and school districts.

Accountability in public education is important. That's why I believe in local control, not federal mismanagement.

Let me ask you: How can the Bush Administration claim they can manage a reform agenda for public education? The same people who are telling you how to run your schools have mismanaged our federal budget into a $413 billion deficit last year.

The same education officials managing No Child Left Behind are also managing a scandal in which they paid $241,000 to a corrupt columnist to promote their reform agenda. While this administration paid nearly a quarter million dollars for propaganda, One of my school districts got their Title I funds cut by about the same amount and will have to layoff 38 teachers due to budget shortfalls.

While the U.S. Department of Education sanctions our schools and pays hundreds of thousands dollars - of your money - to spin phony stories - parents from one of my middle school were forced to have bake sales to raise $34,000 to pay for an additional 4th grade teacher to reduce class sizes.

The Washington sanctions, scandals and squeezing of our school districts must stop.

I am strongly opposed to the federal government dictating, mandating, and interfering with education at the local level. Washington needs to be a partner with state and local government, not interfering in your schools.

As far as No Child Left Behind is concerned - let's fix it, let's fully fund it, and if Congress won't fix it and fund it - then let's repeal it!

We all want our children to succeed. While some focus on not leaving children behind, I want our schools to focus on moving all children ahead. All children - means kids with special needs and gifted and talented students. Children who want to play sports and students who want to excel at band or art or drama. All children deserve the opportunity to succeed in school - and all schools deserve the resources and support to meet the needs of our children.

For those of you who might be supportive of the reforms - I say the goals are noble, but the implementation has been haphazard and flawed and damaging to public education.

It is my belief that you - locally elected school board members - are in the best position to make decisions about how to ensure success for all students. You are accountable to both local taxpayers and the voters - the same voters who elect each and every one of the Members of Congress you will visit with tomorrow.

As the closest elected officials to parents and students, you should determine how education is funded and operated in your communities. You don't need members of Congress and bureaucrats in the Department of Education dictating mandates that divert resources and attention to a whole new series of tests. You've already been working on reforms at the state and local levels. I didn't come to Congress to destroy the education reforms I worked on in the Minnesota State House - it makes no sense.

And, you certainly don't need the President telling you how to implement education policy amidst threats of harsh sanctions.

This Administration already has its hands full. It has a mess in Iraq, a fiscal mess with their endless deficit spending, and a health care mess impacting nearly every family and business in America. This White House has a lot of messes to clean up already - they don't need to be messing with your schools.

But, no, they can't just fund their existing unfunded mandates and leave you alone. Now President Bush wants to expand his mandates and his high stakes testing into high school. High school testing is not only a misguided policy, they are paying for it by cutting the Federal TRIO program - which provides access to higher education for our veterans - the very same veterans who are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a disgrace and I will fight against both the cuts to our veterans and this new layer of testing imposed upon our schools.

Once upon a time I was a public school student. I am the mom of two public school graduates. I was a substitute teacher in public schools. I believe in public education and - without a doubt in my mind - the opportunities I have had to serve on my local city council, in the Minnesota Legislature and, now, in Congress, all starts with the foundation my public education provided me.

Friends, tomorrow, you go to Capitol Hill to fight for our children - to make public education in America a top priority in this Congress.

Let me tell you now, you don't need to lobby me - I am standing with you shoulder to shoulder because our children and your schools come first.

Thank you!

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