Donald M. Payne: “the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and I feel that this amendment is extremely important. When the Elementary and…”

“the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and I feel that this amendment is extremely important. When the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was originally written in 1965, it was clear that the performance of students at high poverty schools was relatively low. The Federal Government decided to commit resources to ensuring those schools receive program funds specifically targeted to schools that had large numbers of children who lived in poverty. That program is now called Title I, and it was created to help improve the gap in achievement between low- and high- income students. We all know that today the gap of achievement still exists. That is why it is important that we maintain our commitment to reaching out to those schools in the form of targeted assistance. But under H.R. 800, States are given the authority to allow schools to participate in school-wide programs under Title I, regardless of their low-income child percentages.”