Political Quotes

“Whenever we encounter an attempt to dismantle the Department of Education, it is clear that we are undermining public education. Yet, even the Founders of our great Nation were committed to education. Moreover, without a Federal role in education, when States were left to their own devices, we lacked a common set of standards for high- quality education, high-quality teachers, and high expectations for student outcomes. Many students were left behind, such as racial minorities, low income, those with disabilities, those with English as a second language. The Federal role in education ensures a level playing field for all of our students and especially provides funding to help the most needy students. Moreover, the Federal role in education is still striving to live up to the promise of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 decision. In that decision, the Supreme Court said that education is a right, which must be made available to all on equal terms, and further, that racially segregated so-called separate but equal education was inherently unequal. The GAO first revealed in 2016 that public schools, unfortunately, are still segregated--as a matter of fact, more segregated now than the late 1960s. In July 2022, GAO found that more than one in three public K-12 students attend essentially racially segregated schools, so we still have work to do in that area. We still have work to do to fulfill the promise of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.…”