FROMTHEDESKOFCONGRESSMANMIKEHONDAPROUDLYREPRESENTING
CALIFORNIA’S17thDISTRICT
FORIMMEDIATERELEASE
Nov.17,2015
Contact:LaurenSmith
(202)225-2631(o)
(202)308-4005(c)
HONDAWORKSTOENSUREEACHANDEVERYCHILD
RECEIVESANEQUITABLEEDUCATION
HondaIntroducesBilltoAdequatelyFundtheEducationNeeds
ofAllChildren
Washington,D.C.–Today,CongressmanMikeHonda(D-SiliconValley)introduced
theEquityandExcellenceinAmericanEducationActtoprovideschoolswiththe
resourcesneededtoprovideeachandeverychildwithahigh-qualityeducation,and
toencouragestategovernmentsandlocalschooldistrictstopartnerwiththefederal
governmenttoadequatelyfundAmerica’spublicschools.
“Forfartoolong,wehavebeenviewingoureducationsystemthroughan
inaccuratelens:equality.Equalityusesastatic,one-size-fits-allapproach
insteadoffocusingontheuniqueneedsofeachandeverystudent.Itishigh
timeoureducationsystemworksforALLchildrenintheUnitedStates,”said
CongressmanHonda.“Asaneducatorofover30years,Ihaveseenfirsthand
theneedtoaddressthethisuniqueproblem:ourpubliceducationsystem
mustworkbetterforallstudents,andthatstartswithensuringteachersand
administratorshavethestudentinformationandresourcestheyneedto
provideanequitableeducationtoeachandeverychild.” Inthe111thCongress,CongressmanHondaestablishedanEquityandExcellence
CommissionthroughhisseatonthepowerfulAppropriationsCommittee.Asaresult
ofhissuccess,thecommissionwasestablishedbytheU.S.Secretaryofthe
DepartmentofEducationtoexamineandproposesolutionstotheinequalitiesinthe
publiceducationsystem.Thecommission,whichincludedthenation’sleading
authoritiesoneducationissues,producedtheDepartmentofEducation’sEquityand
ExcellenceCommissionReport,ForEachandEveryChild.
In1972,PresidentNixon’sEducationCommissionfoundmanyofthesamefunding
issuesatplayintheeducationalsystemthatweseetoday,andcametosimilar
conclusionstotheEducationEquityandExcellenceCommission.Bothfoundthat
weneedtofundaneducationalsystemthatpreparesyoungergenerationsforthe
innovativejobsofthefuture,createsamorerobustworkforce,andensuresthat
Americastaysattheforefrontoftheglobaleconomy.
ThefulltextofCongressmanHonda’sbillisavailablehere.
Lastnight,CongressmanHondaspokeontheHousefloorontheneedforan
equitableeducationforeachandeverychild.Videoofhisremarkscanbe
foundhere.
Thismorning,anopinionpiececoauthoredbyCongressmanHondaandRandy
Weingarten,PresidentoftheAmericanFederationofTeachersappearedinTheHill.
CongressmanHonda’sbillenjoysbroadsupportandisendorsedbytheCenterfor
TaxandBudgetAccountability,AmericanFederationofTeachers,National
EducationAssociation,FirstFocusCampaignforChildren,EducatorsRising,andThe
CongressionalProgressiveCaucus.
"Today,oneintwopublicschoolstudentsinthiscountryispoor.Yetwearetheonly
nationintheworldthatgiveskidsthatneedmoretheleast.Infact,atleast30states
fundeducationatalowerlevelthantheydidduringtheGreatRecession.Rep.
Honda’simportantlegislationaimstobegintheprocessofrightingthiswrongby
helpingtoleveltheplayingfieldandcreatean‘equitableandexcellenteducation
system’foreverychild.”–RandyWeingarten,President,AmericanFederationof
Teachers
“Allstudents,regardlessoftheirZIPcode,deserveaccesstoaqualitypublic
education.TheEquityandExcellenceinAmericanEducationAct,sponsoredbyRep.
MichaelHonda(D-CA),goesalongwaytowardachievingthegoalofequitable
schoolfunding.Thislegislationwillhelpstudents,especiallythosemostinneed
suchasstudentslivinginpoverty,studentswithdisabilities,English-Language
Learners,ormembersofagroupwithademonstratedachievementgap.Itwill
improvestudentachievementandleveltheplayingfieldinordertosetevery
studentinAmericatowardagreatandbrightfuture.”-LilyEskelsenGarcía,
President,NationalEducationAssociation
“EducatorsRisingbelievesthatallchildreninournationdeservehighlyskilled,well
preparedteachers.Theyalsodeserveafair,equitableplayingfieldsothatnomatter
theirdemographicofzipcode,apubliceducationcanprovidealaddertotheir
dreams.TheEquityinEducationFundingbillwouldprovideanimportantstep
towardsrealizingthatAmericandream.”-DanBrown,NationalBoardCertified
Teacher(NCBT)andCo-Director,EducatorsRising
“ThereisonecorebeliefsharedbyAmericansthattranscendsbothpolitical
affiliationandideologicalworldview:thecircumstancesofone’sbirthshouldn’t
dictatethelimitsofwhatheorshecanbe.Thereisnobetterwaytomakethis
sharedbeliefrealitythanensuringeverychildineverystatecanwalkintotheir
localpublicschoolandreceiveahighquality,academicallyrichandrigorous
education.FortoomanyAmericanchildren,however,thatopportunitysimply
doesn’tcurrentlyexist.Thatiswhymybipartisanorganizationheartilysupports
theEquityandExcellenceinAmericanEducationActbeingproposedby
CongressmanHonda.Thiscruciallegislation,whichbuildsontherecommendations
oftheDepartmentofEducation’sEquityandExcellenceCommission,takesthetype
ofevidence-basedandbestpracticesapproachtoinvestinginpubliceducation
neededtoensureeverychildinAmericareceivesameaningfulopportunitytolearn,
anddeveloptheskillsrequiredtoattendcollege,beeconomicallycompetitiveand
participateactivelyinourdemocracy.”–RalphMartire,ExecutiveDirector,
CenterforTaxandBudgetAccountability
“CongressmanHondashowscontinuedleadershiponbehalfofAmerica’smost
vulnerablestudents.Throughthislegislation—whichbuildsontheschoolfinance
recommendationssetforthintheEachandEveryChildreportissuedbytheEquity
andExcellenceCommission-CongressmanHondaistakinganevidence-based
approachtoensuringeachandeverychildinAmericareceivesthetypeofrigorous
educationheorsheneedstomakeitinthemodernworld,irrespectiveofthat
child’srace,ethnicity,orincomelevel.”–ChristopherEdley,Jr.,Chairofthe
PartnersforEachandEveryChildProjectandCo-PresidentoftheOpportunity
Institute
“Thereisnogreateravenueofupwardmobilityinoursocietythanaquality
education.Achild’sabilitytoachieveshouldneverbehamperedbyschoolfunding
levels,whichiswhyTheEquityandExcellenceinAmericanEducationActisso
important.Byallowingthefederalgovernmenttostepupwhenlocalfundsfall
short,we’reensuringeverychildhasanequalchancetoreachtheirfullpotential
andinvestinginthefutureprosperityofournation.”–Rep.RaúlGrijalva(AZ-03)
CongressmanHonda’sbilliscosponsoredbyReps.Chu,Delaney,Edwards,Ellison,
Fattah,Fudge,Grijalva,Hinojosa,McDermott,McNerney,LeeandTakano.