[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 54 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        DOLLARS TO THE CLASSROOM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 1999

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, today at a news conference, Senator Tim 
Hutchinson and I reintroduced the Dollars to the Classroom Act, a bill 
to benefit school children and teachers all across this country.
  The Dollars to the Classroom Act will direct federal funding for 
elementary and secondary education directly to the states, requiring 
that 95% of K-12 funding reach classrooms and teachers. This Act passed 
the House in the 105th Congress 212-198. Joining us today in support of 
the bill were seventh and eighth-grade students from Charles Patton 
Middle School in Unionville, PA, along with their teachers, Math and 
History teacher Shannon Tate and Spanish teacher Christine Bailey. 
Maryland public school administrator Stephen Wallis also spoke on 
behalf of the legislation.
  Senator Hutchinson and I have been working on this legislation 
because we believe in the importance of doing all that we can to 
improve the academic achievement of our public school children. How do 
we accomplish that? We believe that empowering the teachers and 
bolstering the classroom resources of our kids directly improves their 
learning process. One of the young middle school students presented the 
need for the Dollars to the Classroom Act better than anyone else 
could. Seventh-grader Cole Allen said, ``The geography books that we 
use were printed when our teacher was in eighth grade. Well a lot has 
changed since then. They should be called `The Geography of the world 
as it was 13 years ago.' '' As Cole pointed out, many teachers use 
their own funds to buy tools for their classrooms, because so much of 
education funding gets eaten up before it makes it to the classroom.
  When we think of our childrens' efforts to learn, we often think of 
the tools that go into forming and shaping their young minds: tools 
like books, classrooms, computers . . . and things like flash cards, 
spelling tests, and calculators. Yet, many of our federal dollars that 
go to elementary and secondary education do not reach our kids. That's 
why we've come up with the Dollars to the Classroom Act. This is a 
simple concept. Instead of keeping education dollars here in 
Washington, let's ensure that 95 cents on every federal dollar is sent 
directly to parents, teachers, and principals who are truly helping our 
children in the learning process.
  Passage of the Dollars to the Classroom Act would mean $870 million 
in new dollars for school children across the country. That means an 
additional $10,000 for each public school in America. That also 
translates into $450 for every class in America.
  This is a common sense step in our efforts to improve public 
education for the students of the next millennium.

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