Mike Honda: “as a former teacher and principal, I rise in opposition to the Republican budget, a budget that claims to leave no child…”

“as a former teacher and principal, I rise in opposition to the Republican budget, a budget that claims to leave no child behind, but in reality leaves many children behind. Just a few months ago, the President and the Congress heralded the enactment of H.R. 1, the Leave No Child Behind Act. Yet as we all know, a bill is meaningless without the necessary funding and many of us wondered if the White House and the House Republicans would put our Nation's money where their mouths were for H.R. 1 when it came time to pass the budget. After looking at the House Republican budget offered today, it has become clear to me that the Republicans have no intention of making good on their promise to improve educational opportunities for our Nation's young people. The Republican budget cuts funding for H.R. 1 by $90 million. It cuts education programs by $1.8 billion, including programs for teacher quality and after-school centers. The Republican budget also eliminates 28 education programs, including dropout prevention and technology training.”