Political Quotes

“I rise today with my colleague Senator Bennet, to introduce the Race to the Top Act of 2011. The Race to the Top Act will authorize the continuation of the highly successful Race to the Top program that was established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The bill also expands this successful program to school districts and authorizes the program for 2012 and the succeeding 5 years. Race to the Top calls for competitive grants for States and school districts that invest in bold educational reforms designed to bring about significant improvement in academic outcomes for all students and significant reductions in achievement gaps. When No Child Left Behind was signed into law nine years ago, we made a national commitment to fix our educational system--a system in which low-income minority students were performing significantly below their higher-income peers. We made a commitment to bring an end to unacceptable achievement gaps and to ensure that each and every child-- regardless of race, nationality or family income--could succeed in our public schools and graduate with the skills necessary for success in college or the workforce. Despite the commitments we made, unacceptable achievement gaps persist. Still today our public schools are not preparing our students to succeed in college and the workforce.…”