James M. Talent: “I am reminded that, in the midst of all this heat and the very little light, we are dealing with an issue that really…”

“I am reminded that, in the midst of all this heat and the very little light, we are dealing with an issue that really matters to real people, to the millions of kids and their parents in low-income neighborhoods who are trapped in schools, trapped in schools, where they do not learn and where they are not safe. The issue here, Mr. Speaker, is are we going to help these kids or are we going to sacrifice them on the alter of a system that is failing them and failing the country? Now, I say that with deep reluctance. But we cannot help these children unless we are honest about the situation. And we all know that this system is failing them. In New York, Mr. Speaker, 25 percent of New York's public school students will receive their high school diploma. The record in the parochial school system is 95 percent in New York. In Baltimore, fewer than half of the city's ninth-graders could pass a basic rudimentary math test. In Philadelphia, less than 6 percent of the city high school students tested competent in reading. Do you know what happens to you if you are in high school and you cannot read? You know what your life is going to be like? The system is so bad, Mr. Speaker, that none of us, whatever our feelings about this bill, would or do send our kids to these schools.”