Seth Magaziner: “Every child deserves access to a high- quality education, but House Republicans are proposing harmful cuts that would…”

“Every child deserves access to a high- quality education, but House Republicans are proposing harmful cuts that would close the doors of opportunity for millions of children. At a time when we are facing a nationwide teacher shortage, House Republicans want to cut title I funding by 80 percent, kicking 220,000 teachers out of the classroom, including 1,000 teachers in Rhode Island. House Republicans also propose to cut Head Start funding by $750 million, putting 50,000 children, including hundreds in Rhode Island, out of early childhood education programs and making it harder for their parents to go back to work. All told, this bill would cut $22.5 billion from the Department of Education, and many of my Republican colleagues who are advocating for these cuts, who are saying we just can't find the money to pay teachers and help kids, had no problem voting for a tax cut program of $1.9 trillion that went disproportionately to billionaires and big corporations. They voted for $750 billion of tax cuts to corporations, $150 billion of cuts for multimillion-dollar inheritances, and now when it comes to finding even a fraction of that same amount to fund teachers and fund children, they are saying they can't find the money. Please. If you can find trillions of dollars to give to billionaires and big corporations, you can sure as heck find money for teachers and students. Instead of handouts for those at the top, let's focus on policies that will help working people.…”