Burgess Owens: “I join my colleagues in praising this bill, and I would like to point out a few things. The conference report maintains…”

“I join my colleagues in praising this bill, and I would like to point out a few things. The conference report maintains strong civil right protections prohibiting organizations from discriminating against employee and program participants. The conference report increases funding for after-school programs by about 18 percent over the amount appropriated last year. Unfortunately, the conference report does not provide increased funding for school construction. School construction and repairs are totally ignored, and that is unfortunate. H.R. 1 increases support for teachers through increased professional development, mentoring and recruitment. However, the failure to provide greater funding does not relieve local school districts of certain burdens that would allow them to transfer funds into teacher salaries. We have a serious problem with teachers' salaries in New York City. In Middleton, Connecticut there was a strike by teachers. Members might have seen them humiliated before the television cameras, in handcuffs and prison suits. Those teachers are fighting for a decent health care plan. Teachers should not be held in contempt and treated as if they are at the bottom of the professional ladder. They need decent salaries and benefits. The testing provisions ensure that States can no longer ignore the academic performance of poor and minority children. That is a big plus. H.R. 1 improves targeting for schools located in underserved communities.”