Dale Kildee: “I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Gunderson], not because of the person…”

“I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Gunderson], not because of the person who is offering it because he has made many fine contributions to this bill and other education bills, but I rise to oppose it. The setaside established in the bill is low enough not to be burdensome on the local school districts, and, having taught for 10 years, I know that meaningful parental involvement is very important for good education. In my Ninth District of Michigan, my second largest city, Pontiac, MI, has very good title I (chapter 1) program, and one of the reasons it is good is because of parental involvement. They have had that parental involvement from the beginning, and the school district encourages that parental involvement. Parents become more interested in the schooling of their children when they are involved in the schooling of their children. I always tried to encourage that, and I taught at the high school level. It was always strange that on PTA night the parents I needed to see never came. The parents I did not need to see always came. I always tried to encourage parental involvement. Now I know the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Gunderson] is sincerely concerned with paperwork, and I share that concern, but H.R. 6 substantially addresses that burden of paperwork.”