Jack Reed: “I rise to respond and echo the comments of Senator Kennedy. A year ago, with much hope and great fanfare, we all looked…”

“I rise to respond and echo the comments of Senator Kennedy. A year ago, with much hope and great fanfare, we all looked at the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act as a positive step forward, a recognition that we could not simply sit back and let education in the United States continue on its then-current course. We also hoped the great rhetoric would be matched with real resources. Sadly, those resources have not materialized. The President, only a few weeks after signing the bill, released his budget numbers for fiscal year 2003 which significantly reduced funding for the No Child Left Behind Act. In fact, the President's budget contained the smallest increase overall for education funding in years. A small increase, but nothing commensurate with the kind of expectations that were generated by the No Child Left Behind Act. We fear--I fear--that that same reality will be visited upon us this evening in the State of the Union speech, and next week when the President releases this year's budget. There will be no significant increase overall in education spending. The President may point to an increase in title I that he has advertised, a $1 billion increase. That would raise title I funding to $12.3 billion. But let me remind all who are listening, that $12.3 billion is about $6 billion less than the authorized figure in the No Child Left Behind Act.”