Political Quotes

“I am happy to support Senator Lieberman, Bayh, DeWine, and Landrieu's targeting amendment today. This initiative symbolizes what the New Democrats stand for. Targeting ESEA money to the children most in need has long been one of our top priorities. It is commonly assumed that title I is already targeted to poor children. In reality, 85 percent of all title I funds are allocated according to the basic grant formula that does not take concentration of poverty into account. The remaining 15 percent, which last year was $1.2 billion, was distributed amongst two-thirds of our Nation's schoolchildren. Under this plan, districts with 15 percent poverty received the same proportional benefit as districts with 90 percent poverty. That's why, the last time we reauthorized ESEA, we created the targeted grants formula. It was an effort to direct the scarce resources to the areas of highest poverty. We had good intentions, but bad follow-through. The targeted grants formula has never been funded. I know that changing a funding formula is a detailed and complicated endeavor--whether it is transportation dollars, the Older Americans Act, or title I. But we must make the difficult decisions--and in essence, get more for our dollars. The more we are able to concentrate our resources in areas most in need, the more we can close the achievement gap in our Nation.”