The Economy

Floor Speech

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Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, each year the Department of Education honors schools around the country that have a clear record of serving students of all backgrounds and helping all students excel.

This year, 16 Ohio schools were among 349 National Blue Ribbon Schools, honoring the hard work of students, teachers, parents, and everyone in the community who works to make these schools a success-- from cafeteria workers to principals, to students, to parents, to neighbors.

These schools represent the great diversity in our State--rural and small-town schools, urban and suburban schools, all designated as ``exemplary high performing schools.''

I would like to read the names of these 16 schools in Ohio: Bath Elementary School, Bluffton Elementary School, Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School, Central Elementary School, Hazel Harvey Elementary School, Indian Riffle Elementary School, John Foster Dulles Elementary School, Maplewood Elementary School, Mariemont Elementary School, Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School, Oakwood Elementary School, Saint Andrew-Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School, Stadium Drive Elementary School, and Twin Oak Elementary School.

The other school, in addition to these 16, is particularly close to my heart. It is called the Mansfield Spanish Immersion School. It sits on Euclid Avenue. It is the new school in the building where I went to elementary school, then called Brinkerhoff Elementary. It has since become a Spanish immersion school. Brinkerhoff was built, I believe, in the 1950s. I attended there and both of my brothers attended there from kindergarten through the sixth grade.

The school reopened as a public magnet school a decade ago, with a class of 11 kindergartners, under the leadership of our neighbor Jody Nash.

Over the past 10 years, under Principal Nash, and now under the current principal, Gabe Costa, the school has grown to more than 250 students across 9 grades.

Last year the school expanded to add seventh and eighth grade for the first time and had a third section of kindergartners.

Core subjects are taught in Spanish, helping Richland County students learn a second language from a young age. These students don't just excel in Spanish. The school is consistently ranked a top school in the State and has gotten high marks for serving students from diverse backgrounds.

I would add that there are not a huge number of people in Mansfield, OH, my hometown, whose parents are speaking Spanish at home. Most of these students are learning Spanish for the first time in their families.

Two years ago, the Brinkerhoff School, or the Mansfield Spanish Immersion School, was 1 of 2 schools in Ohio and 100 across the Nation to receive a National Title I Distinguished Schools Award for making progress in closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers.

Awards like this mean so much to a community. They are a reminder that academic excellence isn't limited to exclusive private schools or wealthy communities on the coasts.

Too many people in this town of Washington want to refer to us as the Rust Belt--that outdated, offensive term that demeans our workers and devalues who we are. It devalues the incredible work schools like this are doing in our State, preparing our students for the global economy of the future. These schools are not rusty. They are thriving.

Congratulations to all 16 of this year's Ohio Blue Ribbon Schools-- all examples to our State and to our country and why we are so proud of them.

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