[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11210]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        EVERY CHILD ACHIEVES ACT

  Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, Nelson Mandela once said there can be no 
keener revelation of a society's soul than the way it treats its 
children.
  Every child deserves a fair chance. If we fail at taking care of our 
children, we fail at everything else. So the stakes are high as we work 
to reform the No Child Left Behind Act. Too many children are left 
behind. The Every Child Achieves Act is a step forward.
  I thank Senator Alexander and Senator Murray for working so hard on 
this bill. It is bipartisan, and it is an opportunity for real progress 
in educating our children.
  My dad used to say get it done, but get it done right. When we say 
``every child succeeds,'' we have to mean it--every child, including 
those in the poorest and most vulnerable communities. That is what we 
must do. This is the bill we must pass.
  I am cautiously optimistic, but I would remind my colleagues, we 
cannot keep playing catchup. I have met with child well-being experts 
in New Mexico and across the Nation. They are very clear. Early 
intervention is key. For too many children, there are too many hurdles 
and too little hope. Our commitment has to begin early and has to stay 
the course.
  In New Mexico, almost one in three children lives in poverty. One in 
five goes to bed hungry. We are ranked next to last in education, last 
in overall child well-being. That is absolutely unacceptable. The 
future of my State, for our children and for our economy, depends on 
changing it.
  Earlier this year, I introduced the Saving Our Next Generation Act 
for full funding for programs that work, that work on a daily basis, 
work in our communities for critical prenatal care, and for Healthy 
Start and Head Start. Too little too late doesn't work. The result is 
wasted opportunity and continued failure. Children need to arrive at 
school ready to learn and able to realize their full potential.
  That is why I also emphatically support Senator Casey's strong start 
amendment for pre-K education for every child. Early learning is 
critical. Senator Casey's amendment would expand and improve those 
opportunities for children from birth to age 5.
  We need to ensure all students get the same opportunities. I have 
introduced an amendment that provides support for Native American 
schools. The Bureau of Indian Education functions as a State education 
agency and has 50,000 students in it, but it is not funded as one. It 
often loses out on grants and other Federal funding. We have to change 
that.
  Both sides have worked to improve this bill. I am pleased it has 
several measures that I have long fought for. For example, healthy 
children are an investment in our future. Their health education should 
be a priority, not an afterthought. The bill includes my amendment to 
make health a core subject.
  In addition, we know that too many students, especially in minority 
communities, are not graduating. In my State, one-fifth of high school 
students drop out every year. Many who drop out are teen parents. My 
amendment provides critical support to these students. We need to do 
all we can to help them stay in school and to raise healthy children 
while they do so.
  The Every Child Achieves Act strengthens STEM education, financial 
literacy, rural school districts, and 21st century community learning 
centers. It ensures that tribal leaders can teach native languages in 
their schools--something I have long pushed for. It also supports vital 
school and community public-private partnerships. These are much needed 
reforms and will make a difference to children and families in my 
State.
  Our goal is clear: to reach all students, especially those who need 
the most support to succeed in school.
  In New Mexico, three out of four of our schools are title I schools. 
They face great challenges. Many students are low income. Many have 
special needs. We have to make sure they have the resources they need. 
This has to be a priority, and it starts with good teachers.
  We aren't going to recruit great teachers--especially in schools with 
the greatest need--if we unfairly punish those teachers for poor 
student performance. There has to be flexibility, especially early on.
  Our first obligation is to students--all students. We are accountable 
to them and their parents, and we need to keep applying pressure, while 
providing support, to States and school districts to ensure that truly 
no child is left behind. But we can't just test for failure; we need to 
plan for success. We should build on what works and leave behind what 
doesn't. But don't leave behind good students or those teachers who 
dedicate their lives to helping them.
  Now is the time for reform--to ensure that standards are strong and, 
if not met, efforts are in place to help those students, to make sure 
parents and teachers know how students are performing every year, and 
to give States and school districts the support to succeed.
  Let's be clear. We face troubling and chronic achievement and 
opportunity gaps. Every school must address this and be held 
accountable. Now is the time to address resource inequities. Now is the 
time to invest in what works. Now is the time to make sure we are not 
taking resources away from students, schools, and districts with the 
greatest need. Parents deserve to know that when children fall behind, 
their schools will take action and that we have the resources to do so.
  But it isn't just schools that must act. So must we act--the 
Congress, parents, and communities. We all have a stake in this, and we 
share the same goal--to protect at-risk students, to provide 
accountability for taxpayer funds, and to make sure that every child 
has a fair chance.
  I want to again commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for 
bringing this legislation to the floor. Working together we can provide 
all students with the education they need.
  With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ROUNDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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