[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 26317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 TRIBUTE TO BARBARA ALEXANDER, ADVOCATE FOR EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGE 
                                CHILDREN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2001

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take 
this opportunity to acknowledge the passing of Barbara Alexander, a 
very special woman whose life was dedicated to aiding children. Barbara 
is best known as a loving, energetic, feisty, and diligent advocate for 
advancing educational opportunities for children, especially children 
from economically disadvantaged families. Her courageous efforts 
continued until her untimely death at age 64 on November 27th of this 
year.
  Born in Beaumont, Texas, Barbara moved to Richmond, California, in my 
congressional district, with her family when she was 7 years old. She 
met her future husband, Billy Alexander, while in church one Sunday. 
Barbara was married to Billy for 44 years and was the proud mother of 
three daughters, five sons, seven grandchildren and two great-
grandchildren.
  Barbara's activism on behalf of public school children began in 1963, 
when her eldest daughter, Gaye, entered kindergarten at Coronado 
Elementary School in Richmond. She volunteered countless hours at the 
school and joined the Parent Teacher Association and the school 
advisory council. In the 1970s, Barbara and Billy successfully won a 
court decision against the Richmond Unified School District and the 
State of California for their handling of federal funds committed for 
special education students under Title I. Soon afterward, Barbara's 
involvement in education and her fight for the rights of disadvantaged 
children intensified. She served as a member of the National Coalition 
for Title I Parents, and the California Association for Compensatory 
Education. Barbara continued her lifelong passion for poor children by 
pioneering programs to assist low-income children such as Dreams for 
Children, which raised money to take low-income children shopping for 
Christmas, a Day of Sharing at Nystrom Elementary School, weekend 
tutorial programs, and a summer school program called Summer of Hope.
  In recent years, the Alexanders founded the West Contra Costa Back-
To-School Festival, an annual event that brings together businesses and 
community organizations to provide free school supplies, health 
screenings and community services to students attending schools in 
Contra Costa County. Last September, about 2,000 students and their 
parents benefitted from the event. Billy fondly calls Barbara a modern-
day ``Robin Hood'' because she passionately helped poor children and 
their families even when her own family was experiencing financial 
difficulties. I want to thank Billy personally for the sacrifice he and 
his family made throughout the years. Barbara Alexander was a model for 
us all. Indeed, her passion and advocacy will continue to inspire us to 
explore ways to improve educational opportunities for all children.
  Mr. Speaker, today the House is going to pass historic legislation to 
reform the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a law to benefit 
disadvantaged public school students first enacted in 1965. I would 
like to think that Barbara Alexander would be proud of the work we have 
done in this bill to ensure that federal aid to schools in fact is 
targeted, better than ever before, on those children most in need of 
help. I would like to think that she would be proud of our efforts to 
ensure that all children are taught by qualified teachers, that they 
have quality after-school programs and that they will benefit from the 
bright lines we will soon draw with regard to our expectations for 
schools. Our bill is rooted in the belief that all children, no matter 
what their backgrounds, can learn equally well as their schools have 
the proper resources and a qualified teaching staff. I believe these 
are the goals that Barbara Alexander spent many years of her life 
fighting for, and I will think of her today, and the children she 
fought for, as we pass this historic bill.

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