Congressman Mike Ross, Fourth Congressional District of Arkansas



Volume 4, Issue 31,
September 3, 2004
Weekly Newsletter



 



 
MIKE'S WEEKLY MESSAGE


 
Committing to Education


 
As children begin flooding the empty hallways of school houses across the nation, the importance of providing them with the highest quality education possible is again becoming a focal point. 

Often, I am asked about my decision to support President Bush’s unprecedented No Child Left Behind Act and if I think this initiative has hurt or helped schools’ primary goal—educating our children.  

The No Child Left Behind Act highlighted the most important issues that can ever be discussed in the Congress—children and their education.  Education is not talked about enough, and is certainly not provided with the appropriate funding to ensure this nation remains one of the most educated countries in the world. Not only did the legislation bring education to the forefront of national politics, it highlighted key issues such as additional training for teachers, accountability in our schools, access to alternative programs to enhance educational opportunity, and others that were rarely discussed on the national level.  In practice, the No Child Left Behind Act was expected to bring full accountability into the schools while providing adequate funding for the new accountability measures.    

Unfortunately, the law is not adequately funded, leaving teachers to meet standards without the funds they were promised.  The President’s budget for 2005 under-funded  the law by $8 billion. Under his budget 2 million children will not get reading and math help, 1.3 million children will not have after-school programs, and 56,000 fewer teachers will get high-quality training that is needed to help our children succeed.  

States and local school districts need the funding that was promised two years ago when the law was enacted.  Without adequate resources teachers’ efforts to help students reach federally mandated progress levels will be compromised.  Additionally, I am concerned that the mandated progress levels do not consider the special learning and instruction needs of English as Second Language students, students that receive assistance through special education, and other subgroups.  Not considering these students’ unique learning conditions may cause schools to be mislabeled as failing or in need of improvement despite having shown steady and significant improvement for all groups of students.   

As your United States Representative, I will continue to vocally oppose the underfunding of education and will actively support reforms that would make No Child Left Behind Act stronger and more realistic.  The future of this country rests on the quality of education our children receive.  We must make a national commitment to education by strengthening our schools, fully funding special education, and modernizing our classrooms. 



 



 
AR Delegation Announces $5 Million to Improve Hospitals' Response to Bioterror & Other Disasters



 
Little Rock – The Arkansas Department of Health has been awarded over $5 million for bioterrorism preparedness in hospitals announced United States Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and Representatives Vic Snyder, Mike Ross, John Boozman and Marion Berry today.  

The $5,077,591 grant from the Department of Health & Human Services will be used to strengthen the ability of hospitals and other health care facilities to respond to bioterror attacks, infectious diseases, and natural disasters. 

The Arkansas Health Department will use the funds to improve the readiness of hospitals and other health care entities in dealing with large numbers of casualties. It will also use the funds to increase coordination of disease reporting among hospitals and local and state health departments. Other uses for these program funds include providing behavioral health services and trauma and burn care and buying communications equipment and personal protective gear.


 




 
Arkansas Delegation Announces $953,410 in 
Firefighter Grants



 
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, along with U.S. Representatives Marion Berry (D-1), John Boozman (D-3), Mike Ross (D-4), and Vic Snyder (D-2) today announced multiple fire departments in Arkansas will receive $953,410 in grants from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Fire Prevention and Safety Grant (FP&S) program. 

The Fire Operations and Firefighter Safety Program includes training, wellness and fitness, firefighting equipment, personal protective equipment, and modifications to fire stations and facilities.  The following departments have been awarded grants:  

First Congressional District

·        City of Walnut Ridge/Volunteer Fire Department; Walnut Ridge, AR - $180,000 for a firefighting vehicle 

Second Congressional District

·        Shaw Volunteer Fire Department; Benton, AR - $166,500 for a firefighting vehicle

·        Casa Volunteer Fire Department; Casa, AR - $31,500 for a firefighting vehicle

·        Hensley Volunteer Fire Department; Hensley, AR - $89,205 for operations and firefighter safety 
 

Third Congressional District

·        Pyatt Rural Fire and Defense Association; Pyatt, AR - $30,294 for operations and firefighter safety

·        Northwest Scott Volunteer; Booneville, AR - $64,989 for operations and firefighter safety
 

Fourth Congressional District

·        City of Hampton Fire Department; Hampton, AR - $40,500 for a firefighting vehicle

·        Cross Roads Volunteer Fire Department; Washington, AR - $106,200 for a firefighting vehicle

·        Vandervoort Fire Department; Vandervoort, AR – $49,043 for operations and firefighter safety

·        Sheridan Fire Department; Sheridan, AR - $85,523 for operations and firefighter safety

·        Scranton Rural Fire Assn., Inc.; Scranton, AR - $47,061 for operations and firefighter safety

·        Stamps Fire Department; Stamps, AR - $62,595 for operations and firefighter safety
 


 




 
Please Contact Mike at 
1-800-223-2220 
mike.ross@mail.house.gov or
www.house.gov/ross



 


 

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