[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 65 (Thursday, May 9, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM NEEDS HELP

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, the education system in our country needs 
help. But instead of helping education through additional funding, the 
sequester, which I voted against as a bad idea, cuts education services 
to the children in our country who are most at risk.
  $740 million will be cut from Title I education programs that provide 
financial assistance to improve academic achievement of disadvantaged 
students. Tennessee would receive $14.5 million less and, in Memphis, 
almost every single school relies on those funds. Head Start would be 
stripped of $406 million.
  These programs are relied upon by low-income families, families that 
need more assistance to assure that their children have a safe place to 
learn while their parents work to pay their bills.
  Nationwide, nearly 1.2 million students are affected by Head Start 
cuts. Tennessee will lose at least $7 million and, in Memphis, it means 
31,000 children will lose access to affordable early education.
  As a result of this reduction in Federal funding and the needs to 
reprioritize our allocation of Title I funding, Memphis City Schools 
will be forced to eliminate approximately 80 of their pre-K classrooms 
for the next year. Eighty-two classrooms are being closed, affecting 
1,640 children, more than a third of the students.
  The sequester needs to go.

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