Dick Durbin: “I thank my friend and colleague from New York. Madam President, the original core amendment would have cost Illinois…”

“I thank my friend and colleague from New York. Madam President, the original core amendment would have cost Illinois $180 million in title I funds--$68 million cut to Chicago Public Schools. It was unconscionable. It would have been devastating. They have so many low- income students. I am glad there is a better approach now. I hope the title I funding will reach $17 billion soon. It is currently at $14.4 billion, and it has been at that level roughly for the last 5 years. I thank my colleagues from Tennessee and Washington for affirming that they are going to stand behind this protection during the course of the conference committee. I would like to commend the leaders of the HELP Committee for working with Senators to reach an agreement on Senator Burr's proposal to rewrite the formula for distributing title I education dollars to the States. Title I is the single largest source of Federal funding for elementary and secondary education. It helps States and districts offer the kind of teachers and extra services that help low-income students learn and succeed in school. The Burr amendment we just voted on would change the way those dollars are distributed and would hurt low-income students in Illinois--based in part on the fact that Illinois spends more per pupil on elementary and secondary education than the national average. That is neither fair nor good policy. The original Burr amendment would have cut Illinois' title I funding by $180 million next year.…”