Deborah Koff Ross: “To future generations. And yet they propose to cut $2.2 billion from the Department of Education. The President's budget…”

“To future generations. And yet they propose to cut $2.2 billion from the Department of Education. The President's budget fully eliminates, fully eliminates, 41 Department of Education programs. I had folks in my office this week, today, from my district. They are involved in the HIPPI program, programs that are helping young people get ready for kindergarten. They reach those young people at ages 3, 4, and 5. And they also go into the homes and teach the parents how to teach the children. It is a wonderful program. And I had a meeting yesterday in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with the chancellor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which is an historically black college, Chancellor Lawrence Davis, and he was telling me that we have a crisis in America with African American males because 60 percent of African American males who do not finish high school end up in prison. And his concern and my concern is that America does not seem to be nearly as alarmed about it as they should be. The way we address this is by investing in education. If we will get to these young people at age 3, 4, and 5, we can spend pennies on the dollar compared to what we are spending warehousing them in their adult life in prison. It is about priorities.”