Political Quotes

“I wish today to speak about my grave concern for the children of Haiti. Last month, Senator Landrieu and I traveled to Haiti, where we met with President Preval and First Lady Elisabeth Delatour Preval. We heard firsthand from the President and First Lady that if they are ever going to rebuild their nation, their children need better access to publicly funded quality education. As everyone knows, Haiti faced incredible challenges even before the devastating earthquake. As a result, children who were already facing almost insurmountable odds are now all the more desperate. I believe we have a duty to answer the call of Haiti's children today, deliver the relief they need, and help put them on a path toward the quality education they deserve. Even before the earthquake, only half of Haiti's children attended school at all. The country has almost no public school system. In fact, nearly 90 percent of the schools in Haiti's education system were funded and run by nonpublic operators. No other country in the world faces the kinds of challenges faced today by Haiti's education system: An overwhelming majority of Haiti's school-age children live in the country's rural areas, but less than a quarter of children in rural Haiti are actually enrolled in school. The poorest of Haiti's poor are the hardest hit. Just over a third of Haiti's poorest 20 percent were enrolled in primary schools, compared to 80 percent of the country's wealthiest.”