Burgess Owens: “The crux of the argument that is being made tonight is that we should not take the Federal monies that are appropriated…”

“The crux of the argument that is being made tonight is that we should not take the Federal monies that are appropriated primarily to help the poorest students in the poorest communities and water that down, spread it out to communities which may need money for education, but we should not give them additional funds for education at the expense of those who have the greatest need. The original intent of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was to provide additional help for the poorest school districts and for the poorest students in those school districts. We have had a doctrine of flexibility and super flexibility, and various names have been assigned to it in the past 6 years by the Republican majority. But what they are attempting to do is Robin Hood in reverse. What the Republican majority wants to do is take the money from the poor and spread it out to the others who need it less.”