Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today released the following statement:
“Fifty years ago, in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Supreme Court took a courageous and just action when it broke the chains of Jim Crow laws by saying that racial segregation in education -- called separate but equal -- was inherently unfair and must end. Our nation has made much progress over the last fifty years in opening the doors of educational opportunity. Still, we have a long way to go to achieve the goal that each child has an equal opportunity to receive the very best education we can provide. So as we acknowledge the important strides that have been made since 1954, we must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to obtain a top-notch education.
“The “No Child Left Behind” educational initiative must become more than a political slogan; we must work to make it a reality. Unfortunately, the federal government has failed to keep the commitments it made as part of the No Child Left Behind legislation. In exchange for demanding greater accountability from school systems around the country, the federal government agreed to increase funding to enable schools to hire more teachers to reduce class-sizes, to improve teacher training and to meet other needs. However, the budgets proposed by the Bush Administration have dramatically shortchanged the initiative. Last year, and again this year, the President’s budget has been $9 billion short of what had been promised.
“The first bill I introduced in Congress is the Keep our PACT (Promises to America’s Children and Teachers) Act, which would require the federal government to meet its commitments to fully fund both the No Child Left Behind initiative and the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Passage of this bill would result in a substantial increase in the federal investment in education in Maryland and around the country.
“We must get our priorities straight. To truly honor the landmark Brown decision, we must be willing to make the investments necessary to build an America where every child is given the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.”