[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 106 (Thursday, July 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4940-S4941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EVERY CHILD ACHIEVES ACT
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, this week we are having a particularly
important debate. Fortunately, it is a bipartisan debate. Great credit
is owed to Senator Alexander and Senator Murray for their work on the
Every Child Achieves Act. This bill is a significant piece of
legislation because educational opportunity in America is a right which
should start at birth and last a lifetime.
As a parent, I know that mothers and fathers want their kids to be
able to climb the economic ladder throughout their lives. That effort
begins with a top-flight education. In my view, the Every Child
Achieves Act is a good step toward expanding opportunity for students
nationwide. It is built around the proposition that each school, each
district, and each community is different. So rather than resorting to
the sort of one-size-fits-all policies, this legislation focuses on
trying to build on smart ideas, ideas with real promise that are
actually going to make a big difference in classrooms.
I am going to get to several amendments I want to highlight, but I
wish to start by recognizing some vital components of the legislation I
have strongly supported.
The most important proposal I have worked on is one that focuses on
raising graduation rates. This is one of the major economic challenges
in my home State and many other States across the country. In Oregon,
more than 100 high schools with high rates of poverty are blocked from
tapping into Federal resources that can help important programs--
programs such as mentoring, before- and afterschool programs, programs
where there is real evidence that they can make a difference in terms
of helping these youngsters.
This is not an issue just in my State. There are more than 2,000 of
these schools nationwide. Because these schools are in a very difficult
spot when it comes to securing Federal resources, too often the
students suffer, and, in my view, the lack of resources for these
schools often contributes to sky-high dropout rates.
What I will discuss here briefly is how this proposal I have worked
for is going to make the school improvement grants easier for middle
and high schools to obtain and use to help these students, whom we want
to see graduate and make their way to productive lives as citizens and
workers.
If a failing school has 40 percent or more low-income students, it
would become eligible for assistance. These Federal dollars can be
used, as I indicated, to fund programs that really work, such as
extended learning programs, programs that would be available during the
weekend or perhaps during the summer. The funds can be used to prevent
dropouts and encourage students who have already dropped out to reenter
the educational system. Schools can find other ways to help students
stay at it and get through to graduation day. This will be a
significant improvement over the status quo. What it does is provides
support where it is needed most, and it will help us get more value out
of scarce dollars to approach the challenge of helping students who are
dropping out to get back in the system and graduate.
I am also pleased to see the inclusion of several provisions
championed by my colleague Senator Boxer to create more opportunities
for students to enroll in afterschool programs and summer learning
programs. In today's economy, with so many families walking on an
economic tightrope--parents working long hours, multiple jobs--the fact
is, there can't always be a parent around at 3 in the afternoon when
kids get out of school or during the summer months. Senator Boxer
really took the initiative for the 21st Century Community Learning
Centers Program and the After School for America's Children Act. Both
of them are worthy of support because they go to bat for students by
providing extra learning opportunities for children both after school
and in the summer.
There are other key elements in this legislation, but the Senate
ought to seize the opportunity in this debate to make some significant
improvements. The Every Child Achieves Act can go a lot further to
raise graduation rates. There are more than 1,200 high schools, serving
more than 1.1 million kids, that are failing to graduate a third or
more of their students each year. Too often, it is the minority
youngsters who live in economic hardship who attend these schools.
Senator Warren and I are on the same page with respect to the need to
[[Page S4941]]
make it possible for more of the young people who go to these schools
to get to graduation. Her amendment would help identify the struggling
schools and provide some fresh approaches to help turn them around--a
smart idea that I believe warrants bipartisan support.
Finally, I have just a couple other approaches that I think are
particularly valuable in terms of this debate and particularly how we
can use the machinery of the Federal Government to play a constructive
role in terms of education at the local level.
Senator Booker and I have worked for an amendment that tries to help
homeless children and foster youngsters graduate from high school. Once
again--and we can see it in kind of what undergirds my remarks here--
the focus is on trying to create opportunity for young people who
constantly are out there swimming upstream. The hurdles these
youngsters face are obviously large. Many of them move frequently,
constantly, from one place to another throughout their lives. As a
result, it is hard for them to feel any connection to the school, to
feel some sense of stability. What Senator Booker and I would seek to
do is to make it easier for school districts and policymakers to try to
help those school districts provide additional support for those
youngsters who are homeless and those children who are in the foster
care system.
Finally, Senator Franken has offered an important proposal--the
Student Non-Discrimination Act--that provides strongly needed
protection for LGBT students. Schools ought to be safe and welcoming
places that assist every child in getting ahead and thriving. If
schools--particularly for the youngsters I have talked about in my
remarks--aren't challenging enough, it is hard to imagine how much
harder it gets for a youngster who faces harassment or discrimination
because of their sexual orientation. The Franken amendment goes a long
way to protect LGBT students and their friends at school and prevent
them from feeling they have to skip class to avoid bullying.
In wrapping up, the kinds of proposals I have outlined--starting with
the effort to try to prevent students from dropping out and getting up
the graduation rates--this is all about helping students get ahead
through education, to expand opportunities for these young people
throughout their lives through education.
What the focus of the Senate ought to be is to make sure that no
matter where a child lives or how much his or her parents earn or what
obstacles they face--the message ought to be, here in the Senate, with
every Democrat and every Republican, picking up on what Chairman
Alexander and Senator Murray have said, that this bill will help to
drive home the principle that hard work in school leads to success. I
believe the Every Child Achieves Act is a good step in that direction.
I urge my colleagues to support these important amendments.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________