Cord Byrd: “I attended a two-room school house as a young boy. When I moved on to high school, I was one of 28 students in my…”

“I attended a two-room school house as a young boy. When I moved on to high school, I was one of 28 students in my graduating class at Mark Twain High School. At Mark Twain, there was no question of accountability. The teachers were in charge. The students were there to study. My parents drilled one idea in my head, and it remains a guide for me today: learn. Learn, and always strive to make yourself smarter tomorrow than you are today. Sadly, too often today, that same emphasis is not placed on teaching and learning. I know it. Parents know it. Members of Congress know it. That is why we voted to create the No Child Left Behind Act. Congress and President Bush worked together to ensure greater accountability in America's schools. We established standards. We set the bar. But to help schools reach those standards and surpass them, Congress and the President promised increased resources to help schools succeed. To date, it has been an empty promise. Since President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law with such great fanfare in 2002, not one Bush administration budget has provided the funds that America's schools expected. In fact, nationwide, the Bush White House has shortchanged schools by $33 billion. How often do we hear that fact from the White House? Not once. The administration trumpets its No Child Left Behind Act, but fails miserably when funding it.”