Lynn C. Woolsey: “I rise in opposition to a bill that does not value America's children and families. The average American wants Congress…”

“I rise in opposition to a bill that does not value America's children and families. The average American wants Congress to do more to ensure that our children receive the help they need to succeed in school and in life. Instead, this bill implements a budget that values tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans more than it values education for the least wealthy Americans. In 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act. We and the President agreed, or at least I thought we did, that Federal education policy must include both reforms and resources. I strongly support NCLB's goals, although as we move forward, I want us to look closely at what needs to be done to make it work best. But, I can tell you right now that one thing that needs to be done is to keep the promise that Congress and the President made to the American people to fully fund NCLB. Yet, not only would this bill provide $13 billion less than was promised for NCLB for this year, it would actually cut funding for NCLB compared to last year. Over 4 years, this Congress has underfunded NCLB by more than $40 billion. This bill would increase funding for Title I by less than 1 percent, at a time when we need to do more than ever to close the achievement gap not only within our country, but between our country and many of our economic competitors around the world.…”