Edwards Statement Regarding Federal Education Funding For South Carolina

Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Edwards Statement Regarding Federal Education Funding For South Carolina

Senator John Edwards (D-NC) today made the following statement in response to the South Carolina Department of Education's new report identifying more than three-fourths of the state's elementary and middle schools falling short of federal adequate yearly progress (AYP) guidelines established in the No Child Left Behind Act:

"Even louder than the pleas from parents, teachers, schools officials, politicians and children across this state, the report issued today by the S.C. Department of Education cries out for an infusion of much-needed federal funding.

"Until this president owns up to the fact that he has underfunded his own education plan by billions, we will continue to see more and more schools in South Carolina and across the country fail to make the grade.

"Sadly, instead of addressing the lack of federal funding to support the mandates of No Child Left Behind, President Bush continues to drain money from crucial initiatives such as teacher quality and rural education. In South Carolina alone, his 2004 budget cuts $1.1 million from the former and zeros out funding for the latter.

"It's not hard to do the math: this President is taking us in the wrong direction. He is cutting money from the very programs that will help our children achieve the proficiency standards he spends so much time touting.

"George Bush just doesn't understand what to do about public education.

"What would I do? For starters, I propose a national initiative to pay teachers better. Not only do we need to keep the ones we have, we must add to their ranks. I would also give bonus incentive pay to good teachers who are willing to teach in schools in disadvantaged areas. We need to give our best teachers an incentive to go to the places where we need them the most.

"Without proper pay for teachers, without funding for rural education, for after-school programs, for Title I and special education, we will continue to see more and more children fall behind on the path to proficiency.

"South Carolina is desperately in need of a real federal commitment to education funding, and it's time we had a President who understood that need."