Nita Lowey: “frankly, I do not even understand why we are voting on this bill today. It is the same legislation that the President…”

“frankly, I do not even understand why we are voting on this bill today. It is the same legislation that the President has vetoed before. What this legislation does to our schools is completely unacceptable. If enacted, this legislation would make the largest education cut in the history of our Nation. Let me repeat that. This legislation makes the largest education cut in the history of our Nation. My State of New York will lose $300 million, or 15 percent of its Federal education funding, if this legislation is enacted. New York City will lose over $67 million in Title I funds alone. In New York City, 60,000 schoolchildren will lose basic math and reading instruction, 2,700 teaching jobs will be eliminated. This bill also, unbelievably, eliminates the summer jobs program. In New York City, some 24,000 teens will be left without any meaningful employment or the opportunity to earn money. There are simply no State or local funds to make up for these cuts in Federal aid without increasing property taxes.”