Earl Blumenauer: “again this year the repeat State champions from my neighborhood high school, U.S. Grant, has had another outstanding…”

“again this year the repeat State champions from my neighborhood high school, U.S. Grant, has had another outstanding national contest finishing second against the 1,500 students competing in the ``We the People'' Constitutional contest. The Grant High School performance has a simple formula for success: Hard work, dedicated teachers, outstanding students and parents all joined together in a creative program. They demonstrate year in and year out what works in education. I am sad to note that for some inexplicable reason the national program that inspired such interest in learning about our Constitution is absent from the President's budget, eliminating $29.4 million in civic education from the Department of Education. I hope we will be able to correct that deficiency. This is exactly the type of program and the positive reinforcement that the champions from Grant High School and students from across America deserve. ____________________”