Washington, D.C. - This week marks the third anniversary of the signing of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act by President Bush. On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed this legislation with great fanfare, citing it as one of his major achievements.
On that day, he said, ‘Today begins a new era, a new time in public education in our country. As of this hour, America’s schools will be on a new path of reform. Our schools will have higher expectations. And our schools will have greater resources to meet those goals.
Unfortunately, the President’s actions over the last three years have not matched his rhetoric. The Act was a bipartisan achievement, which called for improving accountability for teachers and schools and raising the achievement levels of all students.
Because President Bush’s budgets have shortchanged NCLB, children are being asked to dramatically improve their academic performance while receiving less support than they were promised.
More than 30 thousand children across the state of Maryland including more than three thousand right here in Montgomery County will be denied resources they were promised and desperately need to achieve excellence. This means less help for children with the basics of reading and math, and fewer children in after-school programs.
I am calling upon the President, in the FY 2006 budget that he submits in February, to finally fully fund the critically important No Child Left Behind Act.
The very first piece of legislation that I introduced as a member of Congress was the Keep Our Promises to America’s Children and Teachers (PACT) Act. In this new session of Congress, this will once again be the first bill that I introduce. The bill is very straightforward. It simply asks the federal government to do what we ask our children to do – keep our promises. It would require the federal government to fully fund its commitments under both the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (special education). I hope the President and the Congress will join together on a bipartisan basis in support of this legislation to keep our promises.