State of the Union
Chairman Miller: Without Substantial Increase In Funding, NCLB Renewal Would Be More Difficult

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- In his State of the Union Address tonight, President George W. Bush plans to discuss the renewal of the five-year-old No Child Left Behind law, which is scheduled for this year. Earlier today, the White House released its "blueprint" for changes to the law. U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement tonight on the President's speech and his blueprint for NCLB:

"President Bush is right that we cannot afford to go back to the status quo that existed before the enactment of No Child Left Behind. But the task of renewing the law will be made much more difficult if the President's budget fails to provide a substantial increase in funding for schools to carry out their responsibilities under the law. The fact is that we won't know if the President is seriously committed to the law until we see his budget and see if he is finally ready to begin to keep his promise to schoolchildren and their schools."

"Otherwise, the blueprint released by the President today includes some ideas worthy of consideration and some ideas that are simply not acceptable. Most notably, the President is once again proposing to drain much-needed funding out of the public schools with his plan for private school vouchers. This failed idea has been suggested again and again. It didn't pass muster when Republicans controlled the Congress, and it certainly won't pass muster now that Democrats do."

 ###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853