Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Upon signing the original Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, President Johnson described education as ``the only
valid passport from poverty.'' This bill threatens to tear up that
passport. It caps Federal education funding at 2015 levels, levels
which are already woefully inadequate after years of drastic cuts, and
makes no provision for inflation, let alone the growing need for
Federal education programs.

The bill allows States to direct Federal dollars away from schools in
districts with the greatest poverty. It permits States to reduce
education funding with no accountability. It allows schools in
wealthier neighborhoods to use title I funding without having to target
funds to the students with the greatest needs. It is a blatant betrayal
of the ESEA's fundamental purpose, which is to level the playing field
for low-income kids.

It weakens or eliminates many successful programs, including 21st
Century Community Learning Centers initiative, which provides quality
after school, summer school programs for disadvantaged children.

Mr. Chairman, it used to be that hard work in schools and on the job
was the surest ticket to the middle class. Today, that compact is
broken. Millions of hardworking families do not earn enough to make
ends meet, let alone move up in the world. The cuts proposed in this
bill would make matters even worse. Kids from poor neighborhoods are
already being neglected, while those from wealthy areas get an ever-
increasing slice of the pie. These disparities reverberate throughout
their lives to create an increasingly divided, unequal society.

Let me put it simply: Without broad access to quality education,
there is no future for the middle class. With this legislation, the
majority is saying to America's low-income kids: You are on your own.

Mr. Chairman, that is not who we are. I urge my colleagues to vote
against this bill.

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