Political Quotes

“let me, again, thank our colleagues who have addressed this important subject. And I thank my colleague from New York for her eloquent statement on the value of expanding the title I program, as my colleague from Maine and I are attempting to do with this amendment. I do believe, if we have additional resources, based on the evidence--and the evidence has been significant--that we will get results. There are those who suggest that because we have spent about $120 billion on title I over 35 years and have not fully closed the achievement gap, that it is not working. But, over the years that has represented less than 3 cents of each dollar spent on education. We are proving today, while the results certainly are not perfect, that title I is essential to improving student achievement. We have listened to those who are working on in the districts, in the schools, who do not have Ds or Rs associated with their names or wear political labels, who tell us it is making a difference. What better evidence could we have than relying on those who every day do the hard work of trying to improve the intellectual and learning capabilities of the 50 million children who go to public schools in America? The amendment we are offering is based on that evidence. It is based on the hard evidence that is provided by teachers and school boards and school principals and parents who have watched title I funds make a difference.”