Student Success Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Chair, the Thompson amendment to the Student Success Act is a commonsense amendment that ensures millions of poor, minority, and disadvantaged students will not be overlooked in the chaos that emanates from this rewrite of our educational policy.
Madam Chair, education is a civil right. Rather than develop quality standards that improve and enhance our system of education, this body has overlooked the harmful effects of H.R. 5 on funding and equal opportunity for millions of our students.
H.R. 5 removes strong accountability provisions required to make sure that children who need the most help will actually get help. It is morally unacceptable and extraordinarily expensive to have 14.7 million poor children in our country, 6.5 million of them living at less than half the poverty level. All of these children exceed the combined residents in all 50 State capitals and the District of Columbia. The Thompson amendment protects these populations from discrimination.
The Student Success Act has failed to set standards that ensure vulnerable minority and disadvantaged students will be able to obtain a high school diploma. Our Nation has demonstrated the need for Federal action that forces States to care about the achievement of vulnerable communities. More specifically, in Black communities, the legacy and commitment to education stems from the days of slavery when Blacks learned to read in secret and at risk to their own lives. Even 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, these communities and schools are still very much segregated. However, the concentration of poverty has become more exacerbated. Research has shown that school districts spend $733 per pupil less at schools that were 90 percent minority compared to the schools that were 90 percent White.
The task before this Chamber is to improve our broken system of education. We must right the wrongs of past education legislation and insert accountability for the learning of historically underserved students. If the goal of H.R. 5 truly is to improve our educational system for vulnerable students and increase their college readiness and career skills set, this amendment should be a no-brainer.
The Thompson amendment is simple. It directs the Secretary of Education to certify that this law will not adversely impact minorities, students with disabilities, English learners, and students with low income.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that H.R. 5 will improve outcomes for poor, minority, and disadvantaged students. If so, then a Secretarial determination of this positive impact should be something every Member of this body can support.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support amendment 43, and I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Chair, in taking from the comments from the speaker in opposition, you want the States to certify, but you want the Federal Government to provide the money.
What we are saying is, if the Federal Government is providing the money, then they should have some oversight as to the overall standards that are adhered to by the program.
What my amendment simply does is to say that the Secretary of Education has a responsibility to certify that all students will be provided the proper education and other things afforded this act. It is about the certification, and before we spend any money, we have to do that.
If the State certifies to the Secretary, then that is fine; but if we are saying, as I understand the opposition to this amendment, that we are going to leave that certification to the States without any oversight from the Federal Government--all they want is our money--then that is a poor way to run government.
Madam Chair, I ask for support of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source