Date: 2015-07-08
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to the current version of H.R. 5. the House Republican bill which seeks to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. and encourage my colleagues to adopt the Democratic substitute offered by Ranking Member BOBBY SCOTT. Let me start by reading you a quote that truly strikes me as telling of where we have come from and where we find ourselves today. On May 22. 1964. at the University of Michigan. President Lyndon Baines Johnson remarked: In many places. classrooms are overcrowded and curricula are outdated. Most of our qualified teachers are underpaid. and many of our paid teachers are underqualified. So we must give every child a place to sit and a teacher to learn from. Poverty is not a bar for learning. and learning must often escape from poverty. President Johnson went on to say: But more classrooms and more teachers are just not enough. We must seek an educational system which grows in excellence as it grows in size. This means better training for our teachers. It means preparing our youth to enjoy their hours of leisure as well as their hours of labor. It means exploring new techniques of teaching. to find new ways to stimulate the love of learning and the capacity for creation. Lets just take a moment to let that sink in. Those were words read in 1964. during President Johnsons Great Society Speech. Almost every single point in President Johnsons remarks has direct import of the perils our education system faces today. Teachers are still underpaid. and in so many areas. underqualified. Classroom sizes are increasing. and the quality of education is continuing to deteriorate. Hunger and poverty continue to afflict our innercity students in an alarmingly disproportionate rate. and disparity of resources and access to a quality education seems. at times. to continue expanding. The achievement gap between our most impoverished students remains inextricably tied to the wealth gap. and the numbers are discouraging. Instead of moving forward by improving on and implementing lessons learned from the failed policies of No Child Left Behind. H.R. 5 guts the core intent of the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. H.R. 5 is like a blast from the past and fails our students and their families in a myriad of ways. Among some of the most egregious provisions in this proposed iteration of ESEA. H.R. 5 includes the concept of portability for title I funds. Sold and messaged as a promotion of choice. portability instead adversely affects students who are in schools and districts with the highest concentration of poverty and need. In short. portability is a ruse. one that takes resources from. rather than gives to our most underserved and needy children. Additionally. as the ranking member of the Science. Space. and Technology Committee. and a longtime advocate of STEMscience. technology. mathematics. and engineeringeducation. I was alarmed by the utter and complete exclusion of any reference to STEM education within this base text. We should be retooling our education system to fit the needs of our everevolving globalized economy. not running back to the factorystyle education that doesnt provide our children with the skills they need to compete. Education is the ladder to opportunity and central to keeping alive the American Dream. We must fight to ensure that every single child. regardless of their background. is given the opportunity to reach their Godgiven potential. No matter what raceBlack. White. Hispanic. Asian. or Native Americanrich. poor. immigrant or not. we must remain steadfast in our dedication to equality and the equity of opportunity. I strongly urge my colleagues to take this bill back to the drawing board and make sure that education in America is reflective of our principles as a nation. I urge my colleagues to make sure that we protect the American Dream and keep America the land of equal opportunity. If you work hard and play by the rules. everyone deserves a fair shot and a fair shake at a fulfilling life. The ZIP Code you grow up in should not determine the life you live.