Every Child Achieves Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I rise today in support of my amendment, which I am offering with Senator Inhofe, Senator Grassley, Senator Ayotte, and Senator Wyden.

The homeless population is at an alltime high in our country, with 1 in 45 children--or 1.6 million--homeless in the United States every year. Homeless students experience a significant educational disruption, and only about 11.4 percent are proficient in math and 14.6 percent proficient in reading compared to their peers. Homeless students are almost twice as likely as other students to have to repeat a grade, be expelled, get suspended, or drop out of high school.

There are more than half a million foster children in the United States, and foster children also have challenges and are not likely to be on grade level, more likely to change schools during the academic year, and more likely to drop out of high school.

Sixty-seven percent of inmates in our State prisons are high school dropouts, and this disproportionate share comes from these backgrounds.

The amendment is simple. It adds a simple reporting of the graduation rates for homeless and foster youth to the State and school district report cards so we can begin to focus in on this important population we should not leave behind. It provides----

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Mr. BOOKER. This amendment provides essential information to educators, policymakers, and the public toward improving the educational outcomes for these students.

I thank the Presiding Officer and yield back.

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