Cord Byrd: “Yes. The distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, who has been a leader in this field, and who is a leader in this…”

“Yes. The distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, who has been a leader in this field, and who is a leader in this field, remembers very clearly and accurately the purposes and the debate on the No Child Left Behind Act. I have never wanted to just throw money at anything. I never felt that just throwing money at education was going to educate our students, but I have been in favor of the reforms that are in this act. I believe we ought to do everything we possibly can to utilize those reforms, to put them into effect, enforce them, and at the same time have the money available to these schools so the reforms can be made, will be made, and will be enforced. They are pretty tough reforms. As I indicated in my remarks, we have an obligation to provide the monies to those schools. When I was going to school, I started out in a little two-room schoolhouse in Algonquin, WV, in the southern part of West Virginia. I entered school long about 1923. Of course, we did not have Federal aid to education then. We had good teachers, although they were not paid a lot. During the Depression, many of them had to take a reduction on their paychecks to get those checks cashed, but we had teachers who cared. I had foster parents who cared. Our schools were not much, but we studied hard and we tried to make a better life for ourselves and our parents. So I know something about the disadvantaged children and disadvantaged schools. I came through that Depression.”