May 23, 2002

Thank you all for coming to today's hearing on the critical subject of whether America's schools are providing equal educational opportunity or still are separate and unequal.

Last year, Democrats and Republicans worked closely with President Bush to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, to hold schools accountable for closing the achievement gap for low-income students, minority students, limited-English proficient students, and students with disabilities and to hold them accountable for all students performing at a high level.

There is no more important goal to our nation's future than ensuring that every child has the opportunity, through education, to reach his or her potential as an individual and a citizen. But, today we will hear that the federal and state governments are not doing their part to help our country's children reach that goal. It's all well and good for us to hold schools accountable, but we, and states, must be accountable too.

Nearly 50 years ago, the Supreme Court held in Brown vs. Board of Education that the American promise of equal opportunity was empty without equal educational opportunity.

But today, to a great extent, whether an American child is taught by a high quality teacher in a small class, has access to the best courses and instructional materials, goes to school in a new, modern building, and otherwise benefits from educational resources that have been shown to be essential to a quality education, still depends on where the child's family can afford to live.

A child's education should be determined by the size of their dreams, not the numbers of their zip code. We need to fundamentally change the way we deal with education in this country so that all children have the same opportunities and chance for a successful and productive life.

Today, low-income, minority, urban, and rural children do not have equal educational opportunity, and so, for many of them, the American promise is empty.

This simply is unacceptable.

It is unacceptable that our schools, which must prepare students to succeed in a 21st century economy, still are financed with a 19th century system. And, it is unacceptable that a country which purports to make education its top domestic priority devotes less than two percent of its national budget to K-12 education.

That's why the Senate last year voted overwhelmingly in support of an amendment that I offered with Senator Collins to authorize full funding for Title I. That's why the Senate, with bipartisan support, voted to finally meet the goal that Congress and President Ford set 27 years ago to fully fund the federal share of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

And, that's why I offered an amendment, which I wouldn't have thought would be controversial in 2001, to ensure comparability of educational resources within states, which already is required within school districts. And, some districts, such as New York or Los Angeles, have more students than many states.

Although that amendment didn't pass, more than 40 Senators recognized that a system which according to the World Economic Forum's 2001-2002 Global Competitiveness Report ranks last among developed countries in the difference in the quality of schools available to rich and poor students - must be changed.

One reason that Democrats were able to work so closely with the President last year was that he assured us that he agreed that neither reforms nor resources alone, but reforms and resources together, were the keys to helping schools provide our children with the education they need and deserve.

But this February, just a few weeks after he signed the No Child Left Behind Act, the President released his education budget, and the resources were not there - far from it.

In fact, the President's budget would take a giant step backwards by reducing federal support for education reforms, including for hiring and training quality teachers, after-school programs, bilingual programs, and helping schools stay safe and drug-free, at the same time as it would siphon nearly $4 billion dollars from low-income public schools for private school vouchers. That budget would serve only 40 percent of low-income children under Title I.

Instead of joining the bipartisan effort to fully fund special education, that budget would provide an increase, which, if we provided the same increase every year, never would fully fund special education - never.

Even though we are facing a shortage of two million teachers and the President spoke in his State of the Union of the importance of a high quality teacher in every classroom, that budget would eliminate high quality training programs for nearly 20,000 teachers.

When you say you're going to leave no child behind, that comes with responsibilities, too. But, the President's budget doesn't meet those responsibilities and it would leave millions of children behind. Holding schools to high standards of student achievement is very important, but it's not the same as reaching those standards.

If we don't make sure that every school has the tools it needs, and that we will hear today that many schools don't have, we will be like parents with two children telling them that they expect both children to work hard and do well in school, but that they will only help one of them with their homework, will only allow one of them to use the family's encyclopedia or computer, and will only allow one of them to study in their warm room, while the other must study in the unheated basement.

I know that states have made some progress over the years in leveling the playing field, and that they are facing terrific budgetary pressures. And, I know that the federal government is facing budget deficits instead of surpluses - although in large part, that's because the President made a choice to place a higher priority on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans than on educational resources.

But, the point is that providing enough resources for education shouldn't be a choice.

We don't - and we shouldn't - say that "We'd like to do more about national security, but times are tough." And we can't accept that argument for education, either. In fact, if times are tough, increasing our investment in education may be the best thing we can do.

According to a recent report of the Alliance for Excellent Education, if African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans went to college at the same rate as whites, our Gross Domestic Product would increase by $231 billion and our tax revenues would increase by roughly $80 billion. And, obviously, that's not going to happen without equal educational opportunity in our K-12 schools.

Almost 40 years ago, President Kennedy asked whether any American would be content "to have the color of his skin changed and stand" in the place of African-Americans who, among other things, could not "send [their] children to the best public schools."

Today, for different reasons, we are asking a similar question, about low-income Americans, minorities, and urban and rural Americans. And I have no doubt that the answer is the same.

So, I look forward to hearing our witnesses, and to a good conversation about what we need to do to help schools work for all children, for all families, and for America.

Thank you.

Multimedia:
View photos from the hearing