Bill Clinton: “I support the Murray-Kennedy amendment to meet the funding promises in the No Child Left Behind Act. When I voted for…”

“I support the Murray-Kennedy amendment to meet the funding promises in the No Child Left Behind Act. When I voted for the No Child Left Behind Act I thought we made a deal with our local school districts--we would ask more of them and we would provide the resources to allow them to meet those expectations. Today it is clear that this administration has deliberately chosen not to play by its own rules and has instead reneged on the promises it made to teachers, parents and millions of poor school children across the Nation. For a third year running, this administration has shortchanged the reforms included in No Child Left Behind. Instead of helping ensure these children are not left behind, this administration has had a clear record of promising false hopes and of cutting resources targeted towards improving educational opportunities for all children. This Democratic amendment ensures the President and the Republicans in Congress live up to their commitments to fully fund programs like Title I, English Language Acquisition, literacy programs, after school and rural education and that is why I am proud to cosponsor it. We all know that there is no greater path to opportunity than education.”