Bob Schaffer: “I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1, and the reason I am is because the President proposed an ambitious plan, a good plan, called…”

“I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1, and the reason I am is because the President proposed an ambitious plan, a good plan, called No Child Left Behind. This plan was adopted in terms of its vision by the Congress and translated into a bill titled H.R. 1, and that is the version of which I became a cosponsor. This is an ambitious plan, and it is one that is balanced in its approach to education reform. This is a topic, Mr. Chairman, I take quite personally. I have 5 children; 3 of them have been in school, in public school in Colorado for about 3 hours, and it is them and their peers and children just like them that I think ought to be our primary vision and motivation in considering education issues in this bill in particular. Key provisions of the bill, however, have been ripped out of the President's plan by the Committee on Education and the Workforce here in the House and elsewhere. For example, on the policy page of the President's plan, the President outlined the following: 'If schools fail to make adequate yearly progress for 3 consecutive years, disadvantaged students may use title I funds to transfer to a higher performing public or private school.' This provision, the core provision of the President's plan, has been taken out of his proposal.”