Patty Murray: “earlier today, we passed an Omnibus Appropriations bill that expressed important Congressional intent regarding the…”

“earlier today, we passed an Omnibus Appropriations bill that expressed important Congressional intent regarding the education of American children. By passing legislation to reduce class size in public schools, we are doing something concrete, common-sense, and effective to improve the quality of education across America. I am very proud of this Congress today. But although there has been plenty of attention this last week devoted to the issue of class size reduction through helping local school districts to hire qualified teachers, I feel we are in danger of overlooking the true significance of the policy and funding we have passed here today. By making this investment, which we will be increasing over the next several years, we are sending an important message to every community in this nation. The message is ``we have been listening. We have heard you. You've been saying that class size reduction is important because it makes a tangible difference in real-world public schools.'' This new law will not solve every problem in every school in America; that is not the appropriate federal role. Local communities make the decisions that improve local schools. The federal role is to support local decisions. I want people to know that Congress is finally listening; this place is starting to ring with your voice.”