Providing for Consideration of H.R. 5, Student Success Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, think of the excitement next month as so many young Americans return to school; and what this legislation does, it would greet them with a big cut in funds to our most disadvantaged schools.

I can tell you that in Texas, Governor Perry and his cohorts will redirect these funds from disadvantaged students faster than you can say ``oops.'' And you will find other Governors across America with a similar tepid support for public education--the same kind of people who have come to this floor and called them ``government schools'' instead of public schools--you'll find them seeing cuts to disadvantaged students as the easiest way to plug a State budget gap.

While No Child Left Behind is flawed, removing support for economically disadvantaged students is not the way to fix it. At Wheatley Middle School in San Antonio, in one of our poorest neighborhoods, title 1 funding has helped Principal Mary Olison and her team make real progress--a 30 percent improvement in math, reading and science scores; now the district's second best record in attendance; and disciplinary actions have been reduced 75 percent.

Those educators are out there struggling. Now is not the time to remove the support they need to do their very difficult jobs. Cutting this support would turn back the clock on the progress there and across America.

Title 1 funding has already been cut for the next school year. This really is a ``leave more students behind act'' that will lock in those cuts and allow State diversion of much-needed funds.

And really, this bill turns a blind eye to the achievement gap, to the racial disparities in our classrooms, and it particularly ignores the needs of students who want to learn English by cutting the English Language Learners program, which helps many of our Latino neighbors in Texas.

With the damage that has already been inflicted in my home State to public schools, now is not the time to reduce Federal aid to our schools that are the most disadvantaged.

Mr. Speaker, this bill needs to be sent to detention. It needs to be given an F. It needs to be rejected. It is not the way to strengthen education.

I believe in our public schools as a way to bind our communities together. We need to be investing more, not doing less.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source