[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 6, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S19-S20]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Brown):
  S. 37. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 to provide for State accountability in the provision of access to 
the core resources for learning, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to reintroduce the Core 
Opportunity Resources for Equity and Excellence Act with my colleague 
Senator Brown. I would also like to thank Representative Fudge for 
introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives. This 
year, we will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act. Now is the time to reaffirm our commitment 
to educational equity, and in the words of President Johnson ``bridge 
the gap between helplessness and hope.''
  As we embark upon reauthorizing this landmark legislation, we must 
ensure that our accountability systems in education measure our 
progress towards equity and excellence for all children. The CORE Act 
will help advance that goal by requiring states to include fair and 
equitable access to the core resources for learning in their 
accountability systems.
  More than 60 years after the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of 
Education, one of the great challenges still facing this nation is 
stemming the tide of rising inequality. We have seen the rich get 
richer while middle class and low-income families have lost ground. We 
see disparities in opportunity starting at birth and growing over a 
lifetime. With more than one in five school-aged children living in 
families in poverty, according to Department of Education statistics, 
we cannot afford nor should we tolerate a public education system that 
fails to provide resources and opportunities for the children who need 
them the most.
  We should look to hold our education system accountable for results 
and resources. And we know that resources matter. A recent study by 
researchers at Northwestern University and the University of California 
at Berkeley found that increasing per pupil spending by 20 percent for 
low-income students over the course of their K-12 schooling results in 
greater high school completion, higher levels of educational 
attainment, increased lifetime earnings, and reduced adult poverty.
  In addition to funding, there are other opportunity gaps that we need 
to address. Survey data from the Department of Education's Office of 
Civil Rights show troubling disparities, such as the fact that Black, 
Latino, American Indian, Native Alaskan students, and English learners 
attend schools with higher concentrations of inexperienced teachers; 
nationwide, one in five high schools lacks a school counselor; and 
between 10 and 25 percent of high schools across the nation do not 
offer more than one of the core courses in the typical sequence of high 
school math and science, such as Algebra I and II, geometry, biology, 
and chemistry.
  We are reintroducing the CORE Act to ensure that equity remains at 
the center of our federal education policy. Specifically, the CORE Act 
will require state accountability plans and state and district report 
cards to include measures on how well the state and districts provide 
the core resources for learning to their students. These resources 
include: high quality instructional teams, including licensed and 
profession-ready teachers, principals, school librarians, counselors, 
and education support staff; rigorous academic standards and curricula 
that lead to college and career readiness by high school graduation and 
are accessible to all students, including students with disabilities 
and English learners; equitable and instructionally appropriate class 
sizes; up-to-date instructional materials, technology, and supplies; 
effective school library programs; school facilities and technology, 
including physically and environmentally sound buildings and well-
equipped instructional space, including laboratories and libraries; 
specialized instructional support teams, such as counselors, social

[[Page S20]]

workers, nurses, and other qualified professionals; and effective 
family and community engagement programs.
  These are things that parents in well-resourced communities expect 
and demand. We should do no less for children in economically 
disadvantaged communities. We should do no less for minority students 
or English learners or students with disabilities.
  Under the CORE Act, States that fail to make progress on resource 
equity would not be eligible to apply for competitive grants authorized 
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. For school districts 
identified for improvement, the State would have to identify gaps in 
access to the core resources for learning and develop an action plan in 
partnership with the local school district to address those gaps.
  The CORE Act is supported by a diverse group of organizations, 
including the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, 
American Federation of Teachers, American Library Association, 
Coalition for Community Schools, Education Law Center, Fair Test, First 
Focus Campaign for Children, League of United Latin American Citizens, 
National Association of School Psychologists, National Education 
Association, National Latino Education Research and Policy Project, 
Opportunity Action, Public Advocacy for Kids, Public Advocates, Inc., 
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, and the Texas Center for 
Education Policy.
  Working with this strong group of advocates and my colleagues in the 
Senate and in the House, it is my hope that we can build the support to 
include the CORE Act in the reauthorization of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act. I urge my colleagues to join us by 
cosponsoring this legislation.

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