Date: 2014-05-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I would like to offer my thanks and appreciation to Chairman KLINE and Ranking Member MILLER for all of their work in their stewardship in bringing this strongly bipartisan bill to the House Floor for consideration. They have both worked hard on ways to improve education for our nations youth and I have had the pleasure of working with the Chair on many issues of mutual interest for the improvement of education. Mr. Chair. thank you for this opportunity to explain my amendment to H.R. 10. My amendment directs State Education Agencies that award Federally funded grants to charter schools under this bill to work with those schools so that they provide information on their websites regarding student recruitment. orientation materials. enrollment criteria. student discipline policies. behavior codes. and parent contract requirements. which should include any financial obligations such as fees for tutoring. and extracircular activities. My amendment has the support of the National Educational Association and the American Federation of Teachers. I have letters from both organizations that I would like included in the RECORD along with my statement. Charter schools were newbut today they have become for many parents an important public education option. Not all public charter schools have been successful. but the work of those that have been successful have led us to this point of considering legislation to provide additional Federal funding for the creation of additional charter schools. This amendment is a proeducation consumer amendment that would educate parents who are investigating the public charter school option for their childs education. The Jackson Lee Amendment will make it possible for parents to learn more about how schools deal with important education issues such as academic performance. enrichment programs. anti quality of education life issues programs for children with learning disabilities like dyslexia are taught. Many public charter schools provide this information online. and the amendment would support this good transparency practice. The Jackson Lee amendment is good for parents and for charter schools because parents would have access to information that helps them make education decisions for their children. and charter schools would speak to a larger audience regarding their education programs. This information being provided on Charter School websites would help us better understand what public charter schools are offering to parents and students. It would also bring additional transparency regarding the drivers of higher enrollment in public charter schools and promote greater public awareness regarding polices on such as discipline. counseling. dropouts. bullying. as well as programs that impact of education on children with learning disabilities like dyslexia on student retention. In Houston. I have had the benefit of seeing the work of public charter schools at work: Harmony Public Schools. YesPrep Public Charter Schools. and KIPP Public Charter Schools have made tremendous advancements. It is my hope that charter school districts and charter schools will take up the challenge of providing hard data to make the case for their approaches to education. I offered two amendments for consideration by the House Rules Committee that would strengthen the legislative goals of H.R. 10. I also offered a second Jackson Lee Amendment in the form of a "Sense of the Congress" on the promotion of. and support for antibullying programs in charter schools. including those that serve rural communities not supported by the Rules Committee. I regret that this amendment was not made in order for consideration of this bill because the prevention of bullying is one of the most challenging problems facing school officials. Bullying is not a new behavior. Kids have been exposed to bullying in school for generations. Now. however. bullying has taken on new heights and sometimes victims of bullies suffer severe and lasting consequences. For victims of bullying. they go to school every day facing harassment. taunting. and humiliation. Studies show that 2535 percent of teens encountered some type of bullying in their lifetime. Bullying is a form of violent behavior that happens not only in the schools but everywhere. The National Center for Educational Studies reports show that 14 percent of 12- to 18yearolds surveyed report being victims of direct or indirect bullying. 1 out of 4 kids is bullied. The Department of Justice reports that 1 out of every 4 kids will be abused by another youth. I introduced H.R. 2585. the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2013. This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 by expanding the juvenile accountability block grant program with respect to programs for the prevention of bullying to include intervention programs. The bills objective is to reduce and prevent bullying and establish best practices for all activities that are likely to help reduce bullying among young people. This year a million children will be teased. taunted. and physically assaulted by their peers. Bullying is the most common form of violence faced by our nations youth. The frequency and intensity of bullying that young people face are astounding: 1 in 7 students in grades K12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying. 90 percent of 4th to 8th grade students report being victims of bullying of some type. 56 percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school. 71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school. 15 percent of all students who dont show up for school report it to being out of fear of being bullied while at school. 1 out of 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school. 282.000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month. Consequences of bullying: 15 percent of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school. According to bullying statistics. 1 out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying. Suicides linked to bullying are the saddest statistic. Statistics on gun violence: Homicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24 years old. Homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans between ages 10 and 24. Thirteen young people from ages 1024 become victims of homicide every day. 82.8 percent of those youths were killed with a firearm. Every 30 minutes. a child or teenager in America is injured by a gun. Every 3 hours and 15 minutes. a child or teenager loses their life to a firearm. In 2010. 82 children under 5 years of age lost their lives due to guns. One of four high school males reportedly carry a weapon to school. with 8.6 percent of reportedly carry a gun. 87 percent of youth said shootings are motivated by a desire to "get back at those who have hurt them. and 86 percent said. "other kids picking on them. making fun of them or bullying them" causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools. In 2011. over 707.000 young people. aged 10 to 24 years. had to be rushed to the emergency room as a result of physical assault injuries. Victims of bullying often suffer in silence and parents are the last ones to know that their child is being bullied or may be a bully. What once was thought to be a childhood ritual has been proven by school psychologists. law enforcement officials. parents. and students to be much more serious. Antibullying programs can help children understand the seriousness of bullying. and assist parents in learning the signs of bullying as well as learning how to speak to their children about the issue of bullying. Mr. Chair. I ask my colleagues to support my amendment to make information available on publicly funded charter school websites so that parents are afforded the opportunity to make the best education decisions for their children. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas .