[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  0910
            SETTING NEW PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION SPENDING ACT

  (Mr. HUNTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, today I will introduce the Setting New 
Priorities in Education Spending Act, the first in a series of 
proposals to reform education in America.
  There is an urgent need to fix what is broken in our Nation's 
education system. Roughly two-thirds of eighth graders lack basic 
reading and math skills. Only 70 percent of students graduate high 
school. Meanwhile, Federal education spending is at an all-time high.
  The Department of Education currently administers more than 80 
programs tied to K-12 classrooms. Many of these programs are 
duplicative, several have been deemed inefficient, and others are 
simply a poor use of taxpayer funds. It is time to trim the fat.
  Today, I will introduce legislation that will eliminate, not 
consolidate and not defund, but eliminate 43 wasteful K-12 education 
programs. At a time when approximately one-third of American fourth 
graders can't read, we must concentrate on education initiatives that 
have a track record of putting the needs of the students first.
  I encourage my colleagues to support the Setting New Priorities in 
Education Spending Act.

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