Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to take a moment today to stress the importance of providing young people with safe places to learn during the summer months. Summer is in full swing, and families are deciding how their children's time will be spent while school is out. Unfortunately, not all families in America can afford enriching experiences like summer camps and summer tutors. That gap between families who have resources and those that do not is expressed clearly in their children. Evidence shows that students who lack access to summer learning, informal or structured, start the school year behind. When many kids are having to review last year's lessons, then all the kids have to spend that time reviewing last year's lessons. This puts all our kids behind. Simply put, the long summer break should not be a long break from learning. With Oregon's 4-year high school graduation rate at an alarmingly low 74 percent, it is long past time we shine a spotlight on summer learning loss and its impact on our students' path toward graduation. Summer learning loss has consequences that can damage a child's long- term academic and career success. That is especially important in my State where one in four teenagers doesn't make it to graduation on time. Research by the National Summer Learning Association shows that most students lose math and reading skills during summer break. And unfortunately, students from low-income families fare even worse.…”