Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, millions of children in our country are falling through the cracks. Every day, children sit in classrooms more worried about the emptiness in their stomachs, the dangers of their walk home, or the broken radiator in their freezing apartment than the lessons on the board.

Every afternoon, these children return home to families who do not know how to support their education. And every year these kids drop out of school, don't pass on to the next grade, or pass on without having been properly prepared.

The Family Engagement Centers established by this legislation will work to bring community-based organizations, school districts, educators, school administrators, and parents together to meet children's educational needs. This holistic approach focuses on preparing children for a bright future.

Family Engagement Centers face serious obstacles in reaching many parents, however. There is the single mother working two jobs, the parents who feel intimidated by algebra or literature because they were never taught those subjects, and millions of immigrant families who work hard every day but have trouble deciphering the notices schools send home.

My amendment ensures that Family Engagement Centers work on reaching these low-income students and parents and that they reach out to students and parents that lack the resources that other families have, especially those that might have difficulty communicating with educators and school administrators.

The blame for our failing schools cannot be placed on our students. They are too preoccupied with the violence that might meet them on the street corner or thoughts of meals that never come to focus on letters and numbers. The blame lies with the system, a system too overwhelmed to worry about our children. That is unacceptable.

When parents don't have the resources to engage, don't feel comfortable engaging, or cannot engage without the help of a translator, it is difficult to encourage them to participate in their child's education. You can walk into virtually any community and find families in this situation. These families want to see their children live the American Dream, but they feel they cannot help or they have trouble communicating in a system that doesn't speak their language.

My amendment helps bring these families into the mix so that education becomes a 24/7 goal. When parents and schools work together, education is no longer something a child does for a few hours during weekdays. It is a constant process reinforced by everyone around them.

We all know it takes a village to raise a child. Family Engagement Centers help to bring that together and focus on the needs of the child. My amendment ensures that villagers and children aren't left out because they do not have the same resources or speak the same language as the rest of the village.

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