Student Success Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5 The Student Success Act. I rise in opposition to this bill because education is a civil right. The Elementary and Secondary Schools Act, also known as ESEA, was initially passed in 1965 as part of President Johnson's ``War on Poverty.'' President Johnson understood that without a good education, economic stability was impossible and poverty inevitable.

The goal of the original ESEA was to provide a fair and equitable education to every child in America. Unfortunately, H.R. 5 is neither fair nor equitable. This bill creates the warped concept of Title I Portability, which would shift resources from poor school districts such as the ones in my district of Brooklyn, New York to wealthier communities. Children in poor districts stand to lose upward of $85 per student, while children in wealthier communities would gain an average of $290 dollars per student.

It ends the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, among 70 other programs also slated for elimination. You would think that with the rise in school shootings and rampant school violence, that if we ever needed a Safe and Drug Free School Program it would be now.

It also eliminates Title III, which helped to ensure that English Language Learners attain English proficiency. H.R. 5 not only figuratively, but also literally, silences the voices of our Hispanic students and in doing so relegates them to a life of inequity and poverty.

Under H.R. 5, New York State is projected to receive $1.52 billion in 2016 and $6.943 billion over the 2016-2021 period. This is $46 million less in 2016 and $606 million less over the 2016-2021 period than under the President Obama's budget. In fact, my district of Brooklyn, New York is in Kings County. Kings County, with a poverty rate of 33.3 percent, will see a $39.9 million cut in Title I funding under this bill.

Today, we Democrats are shining a light on H.R. 5 so that America can see how ugly, dangerous and divisive this bill really is. And just like during the civil rights movement, we won't back down! We won't give up! We will fight until every child in America--Black, Brown, Asian or White--has a fair, equitable, and quality public school education--because Education is a Civil Right.

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