John Tierney: “Mr. Chairman, I think the theme of this particular bill seems to be 'promises made and promises broken.' The fact of the…”

“Mr. Chairman, I think the theme of this particular bill seems to be 'promises made and promises broken.' The fact of the matter is that this theme is true with respect to K through 12 education, where President Bush's own education bill, the No Child Left Behind bill, the promise was a deal. The deal was that there would be more accountability and more requirements in there that would be imposed or mandated on local communities to meet that cost, and, in return, the Federal Government would step up to the plate and put some more resources towards meeting those mandates. The broken part of the promise, of course, is this appropriations bill is $8 billion short on the promised full funding. Yes, it is a little over 1 percent more than the current funding, but that is essentially a freeze when you consider the increased number of students involved and the inflationary factor. The fact of the matter is it does not at all address the increased mandates of local communities to meet the requirements in that bill.”