Political Quotes

“after enduring a 35% cut last year, this Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill slashes an additional $11 million from bilingual education. This cut is nothing but the latest in a series of backhanded attempts to wipe out this proven educational tool. It's a case of death by a thousand paper cuts. This bill also attempts to eliminate the professional cadre of bilingual teachers and support staff by killing professional development. This would be tantamount to having an Army without a West Point. Because bilingual education opponents can't prove it doesn't work, I guess they figure they can ensure its failure by keeping our teachers from receiving necessary training. Teacher training funds are not specifically eliminated for any other education program. This bill doesn't ask Head Start teachers or special education teachers to do without additional training. Only bilingual education teachers are singled out. Some Members of this House consistently argue against bilingual education because, as they say, 'we need to teach our children English!' This is typical of the inaccurate stereotype of bilingual education as anti-English and is being anecdoted to death. I agree that we must teach our children English and any local bilingual education program that does not teach English is flawed. But a flawed program doesn't mean we do away with the educational tool.”