[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5734-S5735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STATE OF EDUCATION

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Michigan for 
her excellent statement. I rise today to talk about the state of 
education in America today, and I want to pose a simple question, as my 
colleague from Michigan did: Are we better off than we were 4 years 
ago?
  Let us look at the facts. Four years ago, we were making record 
investments in education. We were giving students, parents, and 
teachers the tools they needed to succeed. We focused on results and we 
got them. We focused on our classrooms and improved them. We focused on 
our students and we helped them on a path to lifetime learning.
  Today, we find ourselves in very different circumstances. Today, the 
focus is on process, not on results. Today, the focus is on 
centralizing authority instead of the classroom. Instead of focusing on 
our students, the current administration is simply passing the buck.
  During the Clinton administration, we focused on improving the 
economy and giving every American the tools they needed to succeed. We 
recorded the longest uninterrupted growth period in our Nation's 
history, and we helped the American people by getting the education, 
training, skills, and experience they needed to compete in a global 
economy. We created 26 million American jobs.
  Today, it is a very different story. We are facing dismal budgets, 
unfunded mandates for our schools, and constant attacks on the programs 
that disadvantaged families rely on. Instead of helping students, the 
administration has broken promises and failed to pay the Federal share 
for education. Let us start by looking at how this administration has 
underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act.
  We have seen programs that help students turn into unfunded mandates 
that burden our States. Over the past 4 years, States spent $72 billion 
to cover the unfunded mandates in IDEA and No Child Left Behind. In my 
home State of Washington, IDEA is underfunded by $746 million. No Child 
Left Behind is underfunded by $408 million. That makes a difference in 
every classroom and in every child's life.
  Two years ago, when we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, I voted 
for it. Most of us in Congress agreed that accountability is important 
and that we need to make sure our kids are learning the things they 
need to succeed, like reading, math, writing, and science. But the No 
Child Left Behind Act said in exchange for that new accountability, 
schools would get the funding they needed. Today the accountability has 
been imposed but the funding has not. In fact, Federal funding for the 
No Child Left Behind Act has fallen $32 billion below the authorized 
levels since this act was signed into law.

  I have visited schools in every corner of Washington State and I know 
firsthand that educators are working harder than ever to help their 
students meet these new accountability requirements. But today, as we 
all know, our State and local budgets are stretched so thin our local 
communities cannot afford to make up the differences between what our 
schools were promised and what this administration's budget proposal 
actually provides.
  This year, the President's budget fell $9.4 billion short of fully 
funding this law. President Bush has proposed the smallest increase for 
education funding in 9 years and he even proposed eliminating 
commonsense initiatives like dropout prevention. In Washington State 
alone, the difference between the President's request and the promise 
of No Child Left Behind means nearly 28,000 low-income students will be 
left behind. That number skyrockets to 4.6 million nationwide.
  We can do better. That is why in fact I offered an amendment to the 
Senate budget resolution to fully fund that act. Regrettably my 
amendment failed on party-line votes.
  When we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress and the 
administration sidestepped the issues affecting our high schools. Our 
national high school graduation rate is an abysmal 69 percent. That 
number is even worse for students of color. Do you know roughly half of 
our minority students are graduating from high school? That means 
nearly half are dropping out. We need to keep better track of how 
minority students are doing by tracking dropout rates carefully. But 
today this Department of Education is not requiring

[[Page S5735]]

disaggregation of data on dropouts. That would make it much harder for 
us to help vulnerable students or even to discover which students need 
help. With the right policies we can reduce the dropout rate. In fact, 
that is why last summer I introduced S. 1554, the Pathways for All 
Students to Succeed, or the PASS Act. This bill will reduce dropouts 
and help us close that achievement gap.
  My bill, the PASS Act, does three things. First of all, it will help 
students to learn to read and write by providing $1 billion to help our 
schools hire literacy coaches. Second, my bill ensures our students are 
taking the classes and getting the support they need to finish high 
school, and it provides $2 billion for academic and career counselors 
to ensure all of our students have a personalized plan for completing 
high school and then going on to college.
  Finally, my bill provides extra help to schools that need it the most 
by providing $500 million in grants to help improve our low-performing 
schools.
  I hope the Senate will pass the bill this year. These are critical 
steps we could be taking if this Congress were to finally focus on 
improving the lives of our students.
  Let me turn to the Federal role in the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act. Nearly 30 years ago, the Federal Government made a 
commitment of equal opportunity to our Nation's children with 
disabilities. With that commitment, again we gave the promise the 
Federal Government would pay 40 percent of the average per-student cost 
for every special education student. Today, however, the Federal 
Government is paying less than 19 percent of the costs. Over the past 4 
years of fiscal crisis, Federal funding has fallen $40 billion short of 
that 40-percent promise. This hole in special education funding not 
only hurts our disabled students, it also hurts all of their classmates 
because in order to make up for Federal funding shortfalls, many 
districts have been forced to take money from their general education 
budgets and that affects all students.

  Over the past couple of years, IDEA has received increases in Federal 
funding levels. However, according to the Congressional Research 
Service, at increases of $1 billion each year the Federal Government 
will never fulfill the promise of funding at 40 percent. And even if 
increases were $1 billion plus inflation, we would not reach the 
promised level of 40 percent until 2035. That is another 30 years from 
now.
  Last week the Senate passed a reauthorized version of IDEA. Yet, 
despite clear support, the Senate did not pass an amendment by Senators 
Hagel and Harkin to fully fund IDEA through mandatory funding.
  Education must be a priority for our country if we want a stable 
economy and a brighter future. We need to focus not only on funding 
Federal mandates but on access to quality early childhood education and 
postsecondary education.
  This year, Congress is working on reauthorizing the Head Start law. I 
can tell you as a former preschool teacher, I know firsthand how these 
critical first early years are for our children's future learning, yet 
this year the President's budget barely allows Head Start to keep up 
with inflation. That amount is not nearly enough, especially in a year 
where we are examining new requirements for this program. Without a 
substantial increase in funding, these programs will have to shut the 
door to needy at-risk children who will then fall further behind before 
they even reach kindergarten.
  What troubles me more is this President's clear intention is to end 
this critical program. We all know proposals to block grant programs 
will eventually lead to decreased funding for the program. Block 
granting Head Start is not only supported and pushed by the President 
but also by the House of Representatives. I know I will continue 
fighting to protect this very critical Head Start Program that has made 
such a huge difference in the lives of millions of low-income children.
  Public education is the bedrock of our democracy. It helps create 
good, active citizens and it gives our families the tools they need to 
put food on the table and a roof over their heads. It also ensures each 
generation of Americans will have more opportunities than their parents 
and their grandparents did. There is so much at stake in making sure we 
are moving education forward for all of America's students.
  I turn back to the question I posed at the start of my remarks. Are 
we better off than we were 4 years ago? Sadly, the answer is no. Our 
students deserve better. Our country deserves better. I am going to 
keep fighting here in the Senate to ensure that all of America's 
children get a good education.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

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