Eva M. Clayton: “we talk much about education, but we do not do very much. Consider these facts. In 1949, for every $10 the Federal…”

“we talk much about education, but we do not do very much. Consider these facts. In 1949, for every $10 the Federal Government spent, $1 was spent for education. For every $10 in 1949 that we spent for education, $1 was spent for education. Now, today, for every $10 that the Federal Government spends, a little more than 1 dime--from 1949, from $1 we have moved to 1 dime--is spent for education. Where are our priorities in education? In 1949 America led the world in educational achievement. Today America trails nations like Europe and Asia. We are behind those nations now, perhaps because we failed to heed the words of T.S. Eliot then. Eliot said in 1935, ``Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future is contained in time past.'' Let me repeat those profound words of Eliot's. ``Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future is contained in time past.'' What did Eliot mean by that statement? Let us examine the statement in the context of education. It is inconsistent to talk about building the future while tearing down the present. Yet, Members in this House seem ready to abandon education by making the largest cut in American history, cuts amounting to one-third of education spending, cuts that are three times as much as other cuts in their discretionary budget, cuts with overall funding for the Department of Education likely to be reduced by 25 percent.…”