Invest in Education, Invest in the Future

Floor Speech

INVEST IN EDUCATION, INVEST IN THE FUTURE -- (Extensions of Remarks - June 22, 2007)

* Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, forty years ago, the U.S. was number one in the world in high school graduation rates. Today it ranks 17th.

* About 1/3 of the students who enter 9th grade each fall will not graduate from high school with 4 years, if at all now in 2007. High school students living in low-income families drop out of school at 6 times the rate of their peers from high income families. Dropout rates are especially high in communities of color: Only about 55 percent of African American students and 52 percent of Hispanic students graduate on time from high school with a regular diploma, compared to 78 percent of white students. In my hometown of Oakland, CA, the dropout rate for Black males is 74 percent.

* In this country, there are about 2,000 high schools that produce the majority of dropouts. Six million students throughout America are currently at risk of dropping out of school. Students who fail to graduate from high school are more likely to participate in criminal activity than students who do graduate. Likewise, students with low levels of achievement in high school are more likely to engage in crime than students with high levels of achievement.

* For example, the Harvard University Civil Rights Project and the Urban lnstitute Education Policy Center conducted a study on K-12 schools in California. The center estimated that Oakland's 52 percent dropout rate costs the state $14 billion in lost wages, crime and jail time.

* lnvesting in education would save millions of dollars in crime-related expenditures annually, not to mention ensuring a quality of life that young people deserve or America's standing in the world.

* The statistics are staggering and tell the story. Approximately 75 percent of state prison inmates did not complete high school. High school dropouts are 3.5 time more likely than high school graduates to be arrested in their lifetimes. And a mere one percent increase in high school graduation rates would save approximately $1.4 billion in costs associated with incarceration costs, or about $2,100 for each male high school graduate.

* We must do better by our children. Nothing less than the future of this country is at take. That is why I am committed to effective reform that can transform high schools and keep students at the greatest risk of dropping out on the path to graduation.

* I'm proud to support authorizing legislation that will soon be introduced which will help address some of the reforms that are needed and that is why I'm proud to be an advocate on the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education subcommittee working to appropriate funding to address the crisis in dropouts that our country is facing. Clearly, we need increased investments in programs that keep kids in school and learning.

* School counseling bill: On the Labor, Health and Human Services subcommittee, I worked with my colleagues to include $61.5 million for elementary and secondary school counseling in the FY08 bill that is currently working its way through our committee. This is a 77.5 percent increase in a program that the President would have eliminated. These funds enable school districts to hire academic counselors, psychologists, and social workers. The additional resources will be targeted to improving and expanding academic and mental health counseling to middle and high school adolescents. This significant increase is a tremendous step toward addressing the crisis in counseling in our schools.

* After School programs: Another critical tool we have in our arsenal to fight drop out and to keep kids off the street and for preventing youth violence is our nation's after school programs. The fact of the matter is that between 3-6 p.m. the rate of juvenile crime triples.

* On LHHS subcommittee, we were able to provide a $125 million increase over FY07 levels for a total of over a billion dollars for the 21st century community learning centers. This program is a formula grant to states which in turn distribute 95 percent of the funds on a competitive basis to local school districts, community based organization and other organization for after school activities that make sure that young people have alternatives to getting into trouble.

* UPWARD BOUND/Trio and Gear UP: I want to echo the comments of my colleagues here tonight about the problems we are fighting as it relates to the Absolute Priority regulation and the concerns over the loss of funding for numerous previously funded grantees including 30 percent of our HBCU's and Mills College in my district. I know that working together we will resolve these critical issues and I want to specifically thank BOBBY SCOTT and GWEN MOORE for their leadership on the Education committee and on this issue.

* We all understand just how critical these programs that provide a variety of outreach and support services to encourage low-income students to enter an complete college. That is why I'm pleased our LHHS subcommittee was able to provide a $40 million increase in funding for the TRIO programs and a $20 million increase for the GEAR UP program.

* It is time that our policy and funding priorities take a new direction for our children. That means investing in education. When we do that, we invest in our future.

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