[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23360-23361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 LEAVING WEST VIRGINIA CHILDREN BEHIND

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I attended a two-room school house as a 
young boy. When I moved on to high school, I was one of 28 students in 
my graduating class at Mark Twain High School. At Mark Twain, there was 
no question of accountability. The teachers were in charge. The 
students were there to study. My parents drilled one idea in my head, 
and it remains a guide for me today: learn. Learn, and always strive to 
make yourself smarter tomorrow than you are today.
  Sadly, too often today, that same emphasis is not placed on teaching 
and learning. I know it. Parents know it. Members of Congress know it. 
That is why we voted to create the No Child Left Behind Act. Congress 
and President Bush worked together to ensure greater accountability in 
America's schools. We established standards. We set the bar. But to 
help schools reach those standards and surpass them, Congress and the 
President promised increased resources to help schools succeed. To 
date, it has been an empty promise.
  Since President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law 
with such great fanfare in 2002, not one Bush administration budget has 
provided the funds that America's schools expected. In fact, 
nationwide, the Bush White House has shortchanged schools by $33 
billion. How often do we hear that fact from the White House? Not once. 
The administration trumpets its No Child Left Behind Act, but fails 
miserably when funding it. Accountability cannot just be a standard for 
teachers; it must also be a standard for this administration.
  Compounding the problem and the frustration for parents and teachers, 
each time I and other Senators offer amendments to make good on the 
promise of No Child Left Behind, the Bush White House and the 
Republican congressional leadership line up and defeat those 
amendments. Making false promises to teachers and students and parents 
is no way to improve teaching and learning. It is another in this 
administration's broken record of broken promises.
  Look at one program as an example. The Federal title I initiative 
provides dollars geared specifically for children from poor school 
districts. The No Child law established specific funding levels for 
title I for every year through 2012, including $20.5 billion this year. 
But the Bush administration tells schools to make do with a whole lot 
less, undercutting that pledge in its budget by more than $7 billion.
  In my state of West Virginia, about half of the public schools 
receive title I funding. While the President's No Child Left Behind Act 
promised Mountain State schools $154 million for title I for 2005, the 
Bush administration's

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budget undercut that funding by 36 percent. Translated into students, 
the President's budget would deny full services to 18,398 West Virginia 
children. Evidently, ``Leave Only 18,398 Children Behind'' was not a 
catchy enough title for the new law.
  When President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act on January 8, 
2002, he made a statement that I wholeheartedly endorse. The President 
said:

       There's no greater challenge than to make sure that every 
     single child, regardless of where they live, how they're 
     raised, the income level of their family, every child receive 
     a first-class education in America.

  That is what the President said.
  But what the President said and what the President coughs up in 
funding have proved to be vastly different stories. The No Child Left 
Behind Act promised to give schools the money they need to help every 
young person in this country succeed in the classroom. That promise has 
been broken. When it comes to America's schools and keeping the promise 
of No Child Left Behind, the Bush White House gets an F.
  The title I program is not the only education program facing funding 
shortfalls. The Bush administration freezes Pell Grant awards for the 
third straight year, cutting back on college financial assistance. The 
White House also has proposed to eliminate funding for 38 school 
programs including dropout prevention, school counseling, alcohol abuse 
reduction, and arts in education.
  If there is one Federal investment that can offer real dividends down 
the road, it is education. But the White House continues to play 
political games with classroom funding. It is time to end the posturing 
and give students and teachers the resources that they need to succeed.
  In the coming weeks, the Senate will once more vote on the 
legislation that funds No Child Left Behind and Pell Grants and 
education initiatives throughout the country. I urge Senators to 
finally make good on the promise made to parents and students and 
teachers. And I urge the administration to stop playing games with 
America's kids. Our schools and our children cannot afford 4 more years 
of broken promises.

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