Date: 2015-07-22
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. last week. thanks to the leadership of the Senate HELP Committee. Chairman LAMAR ALEXANDER and Ranking Member PATTY MURRAY. the Senate passed a bipartisan bill known as the Every Child Achieves Act that would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This is the law the Federal Government has with respect to kindergarten through twelfth grade education. I applaud my Senate colleagues for reaching across the aisle and working collectively in good faith to expand access to early childhood education to improve programs for English language learners and to ensure accountability in serving our neediest students. It is far from perfect. But in 2002. the reauthorization of the same act. known as No Child Left Behind. was implemented. It gave this principle that we would look at the students who are falling through the cracks. It meant to serve our poor and minority students. students with disabilities. and English learners. After all. lets not forget that the original ESEA. the original one in 1965. had an exact declaration of policy that said "in recognition of the special education needs of children of lowincome families." This landmark legislation in 1965 is a civil rights law. It reaffirmed Brown v. Board of Education. It reaffirmed the 1947 Mendez v. Westminster decision. which happened in my own district. which was the precursor to Brown v. Board. It said every child has the right to an equal opportunity for a quality education. Lets be honest. We are in the wake of a civil rights movement in this country. When we see tragedies in Ferguson. to Charleston. to presidential candidates issuing condemnations to immigrant families who come and who contribute to this country. to milestone victories where we see all individuals throughout the States may choose to marry the ones that they love. we can no longer ignore the social and the economic issues our great Nation is currently facing. It all starts in our classrooms. in the quality of the education and the fundamental values that we impart to our children. That is why I am also extremely disappointed in the House version of the ESEA where it limits the opportunity for our neediest students. The Student Success Actthis is the one that the Republicans are putting forwardwould take away $3 billion over the next 6 years from the 32 largest school districts and most diverse school districts in our Nation. by the way. many of those students being Black and Latino. While the Senates Every Child Achieves Act accomplishes tremendous feats in expanding access. the House bill actually does not. So what do we do? We must make sure that the bills that we pass have actions intended in them. The Senate bill. for example. makes actions optional when schools are not meeting goals while eliminating requirements for States to identify schools that are in need of intervention where it is detrimental to the progress of the children. So laws must require timely State action to address the inequities where they persist so that we can provide the Federal resources and the support to the lowest performing schools. Everyone hates talking about accountability. But. without it. we cannot help our lowperforming students get back on track. Without clear expectations for reporting inaction. we are doing a disservice to students. These students will fall through the cracks. I look around this room and I am proud to say that I am a public school kid and many of us in this Chamber are. We are products of our Nations public school systems. Look at us. Our communities have chosen us to be their voice. Our communities have chosen us to be their advocates and to fight for them in the classroom. And I am sure that each of us has had an administrator. a teacher. a principal. who believed in us and put us on the right track so that we might be where we are today. As I continuously reflect on my own experience. the daughter of poor immigrants from Mexico. first generation and low income and a child that the original ESEA was meant to serve. I ask my colleagues. lets work together and pass a bill that really helps our children.