Congressman Elijah E. Cummings Proudly Representing Maryland's 7th District

During May and June of each year, I often have the opportunity to join new graduates, their teachers and their families for uplifting ceremonies to celebrate their accomplishments. They ask me to offer them some of the insights about life that I have learned during the years since I, myself, walked across a graduation stage.

I take great pride in the opportunity to speak to the many bright and eager young people in Baltimore and around the nation about the possibilities for their future and about their responsibility to help create a better America for the next generation.

With a true understanding of the importance of education, these young people have worked hard to earn the right to walk across the stage. They have overcome adversity and have sacrificed a great deal on the road to Graduation Day.

The power of education has always been fundamental in this country. Today, more than ever before, the ability to use information for constructive purposes is the foundation of our empowerment.

With adequate and effective investment in their education, our young people present an untapped resource that can maintain this nation as a world leader in technology and science - the engines that fuel the modern world economy.

Last year, a task force of national education experts - including Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Mr. Philip D. Murphy of Goldman Sachs and Professor Roger Wilkins - issued a very important report: "Renewing Our Schools, Securing Our Future."

The task force focused upon concrete steps that we need to undertake to make our schools work better for our students - like extending the school day and school year and focusing more intensively on teaching 21st Century technological skills.

In cities like Baltimore, we also have learned some important lessons about educational success.

I recently visited Rosemont Elementary School and learned how this school is putting the mission of investing in our children into good practice and making an overwhelming difference in students' lives.

Just five years ago, this school was the lowest performing school in the State of Maryland.

Today, its fifth grade reading and math scores on the Maryland State Assessment Exam have reached 87% and 80% proficiency levels respectively. These scores exceed the state average.

Now, Rosemont Elementary School proudly takes its place as one of the top performing schools in Baltimore.

During my visit to the school, I witnessed first-hand how the spirit of excellence is being instilled in the students. These young people are eager to learn and to grow.

If you ask Principal Sandra Ashe how the school made such an amazing turnaround, she will credit her students' hard work and the commitment made by teachers, parents and the surrounding community to educating these students.

"Neglect is the primary cause of a student's failure," she proclaimed. "If you don't water a plant, it will wither and die. The same principle holds true for nurturing the minds of our young people."

Rosemont has developed effective partnerships with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and with Southwest Airlines' Adopt-A-Pilot program to teach science, technology, and math in creative and challenging environments.

Coppin State University and the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute have also committed to provide mentorship programs and support services to help foster Rosemont's success.

And parents at the school play an active role in their children's academic achievement by volunteering their time and participating in fundraising activities.

Strong leadership, committed teachers, and parental and community involvement is a formula for success that is working for Rosemont Elementary School, which makes it a model of achievement for inner city public schools.

If this one school can experience such advancement in five short years, imagine what could be possible for other struggling schools around the nation with the proper investment.

Success can happen, but only when we truly make public education the priority we claim it to be.

Once we provide the necessary investment in our public schools, we will see academic achievement all around us.

What we see now is a lack of commitment on a national level.

Consider these facts. Republicans have failed to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act to the tune of $55 billion, and more than 2 million children nationwide are being denied the after-school and supplementary classes that would strengthen their skills in reading, math and science.

President Bush offered this nation a vision when he declared that, "Education reform costs money, and this Administration is willing to spend it."

It is time to back up the rhetoric with action and write the check.

Increased federal education funding is not the complete answer to assuring our children's success, but it's a necessary beginning to help schools - particularly struggling schools - achieve the kind of success that Rosemont has achieved. It's also an essential investment not only in the future of our children but in the future of our nation.