[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H6722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Jones of Ohio) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join my colleagues from 
the Congressional Black Caucus this evening in a special order around 
education. Today, we celebrate Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or 
Emancipation Day. This holiday, celebrated in 14 states, commemorates 
the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas.
  This day was a great milestone in American history. Since that time, 
African-Americans have made great strides in this country. However, 
even with those great accomplishments, we still find ourselves dealing 
with glaring disparities in our educational system in this country. It 
is time that we stop ignoring this issue and bring it to the forefront 
of our policy discussions.
  As our world becomes increasingly interdependent, we as a Federal 
Government have a responsibility to provide all of our citizens with an 
education that will allow them to compete and excel in the global 
market.
  Sadly, this is not the case. Too many of our minority and 
economically disadvantaged students are not equipped with the kind of 
education that will allow them to earn a decent living in order to 
enjoy American prosperity.
  In a free society like ours, we justify the unequal distribution of 
wealth by equal opportunity. However, any reasonable person will tell 
you that opportunities are certainly not equal. Therefore, I hold a 
strong belief that it is the responsibility of Congress to make policy 
that provides the most underprivileged along us with an opportunity to 
succeed.
  We can do this by promoting policies that ensure a strong public 
education system does not leave any child behind. We need to make a 
strong commitment to our educational system. Our posterity is depending 
on it.
  My home is Cleveland, Ohio, and unfortunately it has been rated as 
one of the poorest cities, where almost half of the children live below 
the poverty line. It has been proven again and again that there is a 
direct correlation between economic prosperity and education. It has 
also proven that good teachers make good schools. But it's so difficult 
to attract qualified teachers to impoverished areas.
  No Child Left Behind requires that every State and school district 
ensure that low-income students have their fair share of qualified and 
experienced teachers. In high poverty districts in Ohio, 42 percent of 
the teachers teach classes outside of their expertise. This is 
problematic, because studies have shown that multiple bad experiences 
with teachers can negatively impact their students' education. We need 
to work hard to get quality teachers to high-risk schools so we do not 
let many teachers slip through the cracks.
  Another disturbing fact is that only 51 percent of African-American 
students graduate from high school on time in Ohio. This last year, 
Cleveland municipal schools only graduated 40 percent of their senior 
class. This is a blatant failure of our education policy. This problem 
has no simple solution.
  We are talking about inner-city schools with a lack of resources and 
crumbling infrastructure. We are talking about environments where 
juvenile delinquency is the norm and some students fear attending 
class, where budgets are stretched so thin and there is no money 
available for arts and education and extracurricular activities.
  These are schools where classes are overcrowded and the teachers are 
overwhelmed and forced to teach from outdated text books, and the list 
goes on. This is not what we intended for our students. We have an 
obligation to correct this wrong. We need to do more to assist these 
schools in securing resources that will allow them to lift these 
students up and provide them with an education that will allow them to 
continue on to college and to a good-paying job.
  It is so easy for Members of Congress to demagog ``No Child Left 
Behind.'' But many of us have supported the policy, and its intention 
is benevolent. We as a country need to strive for academic excellence 
and opportunity in our country. It has been a tremendously difficult 
policy to implement and administer, but we cannot give up on it.
  We have a complicated primary and secondary education system with 
responsibility spread through all levels of government. To reach a high 
level of educational opportunity nationally is a paramount task, but we 
must persevere. The system already works for haves, and we have an 
obligation to see it work for the have-nots.

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