Tom Harkin: “I wish to take a few moments to talk about the Republican budget, the so-called Ryan budget in the House. This has been…”

“I wish to take a few moments to talk about the Republican budget, the so-called Ryan budget in the House. This has been widely condemned, of course, for its plan to end Medicare and for its radical cuts to Medicaid. But I have come to the floor to highlight yet another extreme element of that Republican budget--its unprecedented assault on education funding and the grave threat this poses to school reform efforts across the United States. This Republican budget would slash funding for education by 15 percent next year--2012. Even more drastic cuts to education funding would come in each of the years to follow. These Draconian cuts to education could not come at a worse time for America's public schools. The final budget agreement for the current fiscal year reduced education funding by $1.3 billion. It zeroed out, for example, the successful Striving Readers Initiative, the only comprehensive Federal program to help struggling adolescent readers. I might just add, that budget ended all literacy programs for kids in America funded by the Federal Government. The Federal Government now does not fund one literacy program in America. That is how bad it has gotten. Meanwhile, cash-strapped State and local governments are slashing school budgets and firing tens of thousands of teachers. In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry has called for a $10 billion cut in education funding. In New York City, the mayor, Mike Bloomberg, has proposed laying off 6,000 teachers.…”