Title: Remarks to the New York State United Teachers Conference
Date: 04/04/2003
Location: Washington, DC
Speech
Transcript: Federal News Service
Copyright 2003 Federal News Service, Inc.
SEN. CLINTON: (Applause.) Oh, my gosh! Whoa! Hello! (Applause continues.) Thank you! Thank you so much! Thank you all. My goodness! Well, it is a great pleasure to walk in here and see this ballroom filled with people who actually care about education, our children and the future. (Chuckles.) What a wonderful sight to see! (Applause.)
I want to thank Tom for not just the introduction, which was much too generous but very kind, but for his friendship and his support and his leadership over these many years.
I want to also recognize Commissioner Richard Mills, and I just met my long-time friend, Governor Howard Dean, as he was leaving the podium. (Applause.) I want to acknowledge my dear friend and another great leader, Randi Weingarten. (Cheers, applause.)
(Aside.) Hi, Richard!
And of course, Ivan Tiger. I mean, I could mention everybody, but I always like his name -- (laughter) -- so I always like to mention Ivan Tiger!, you know. (Applause.) Tiger, Tiger, burning bright, boy, do we need you in this dark night of budget cuts and all kinds of problems! (Cheers, applause.) I can't go any further than that. (Laughter.) And I actually had to memorize that poem for a high school speech contest once. I didn't win, but I love the poem. (Laughter.)
And of course, Alan Lubin, who does a terrific job, as well -- (applause) -- for all of you in the ongoing struggles of trying to make sure that education gets the attention and priority it needs.
But I'm just so pleased to see an audience of teachers, and school professionals and nurses, because from my perspective, this is what makes New York and America work. And the kind of commitment that you have to your jobs every day is something that I admire and respect deeply.
Now, we're meeting at a very difficult time in our nation's history. And it is a time when all of us, as New Yorkers and Americans, have to keep our thoughts and prayers with our men and women in uniform. And for all of you who have sons or daughters of grandchildren or nieces or nephews or other loved ones serving, I thank you for their service and I hope and pray that they will come home safely. (Applause.)
This is an extremely difficult time that all of us, as Americans, are free to have different opinions. And I, for one, will defend to my last breath the idea that people can speak out and dissent and not be unpatriotic, but be the highest patriots that America has always honored and known! (Applause.)
But whatever your opinion about what is happening in Iraq, I want to focus on what the false choices that we're being presented with here at home are doing to our future and to the future of those 19 and 20 and 21-year old soldiers and Marines and airmen and, you know, sailors and everybody who's over there, these young men and women. What are we doing to their future and to the future of your students?
You know, many of us in this room -- no disrespect intended, you know, we've got a little white in our hair, unless, you know, you color it, like I do. (Laughter.) You know, hair, I won't go there. (Laughter.) I mean, that's a never-ending issue with me. (Laughter.) (Applause.) But most of us, many of us, anyway, looking out at the audience, looking up on the dais, you know, we are the children of the "greatest generation." You know, it was our parents who made such sacrifices for us to enjoy the quality of life that we did, the opportunities we had; and here we are, in my view, on the brink of becoming the first generation of Americans, thanks to the leadership of this administration, to leave our country worse off than it was when we were growing up.
And that's what my principal critique of what is happening right now boils down to. You know, America has always gotten better. And the whole process of education depends upon building for the future; you know, seeing those eyes light up of those young people that so many of you have had such an influence on; taking care of, you know, our children. as so many of the school professionals and the nurses do. It's always been about the future. The American dream is about the future.
And where are we today?
We are mortgaging our future. We are undermining the quality of education, health care and other necessary services. We are refusing to provide the support and help that our states and cities need to avoid even more drastic cutbacks and problems for the future. And this did not have to be.
Two years ago, if we can recall that far back, we had a balanced budget and a surplus that could have enabled us to deal with the problems of today and tomorrow. (Applause.)
You know, none of us can predict the future, but most of us were raised to believe we had to be planning for it, we had to take prudent measures. You know, you had to be sure that you were doing today what would keep you safe and secure and give you opportunities tomorrow. And somehow we have gotten ourselves into a situation where we are decimating the revenues of the federal government, we are back into the deficit ditch, we have the debt as far as the eye can see, mostly because of the huge tax cuts that were passed. And now we're back for more that will further undermine our capacity to deal with military involvements, the reconstruction of other countries, let alone taking care of our needs here at home.
I have to confess, I was somewhat amazed to pick up the Wall Street Journal a week or so ago and to read about the secret meetings that are being held in the Pentagon about reconstructing Iraq. Now, I do believe -- I happen to believe in foreign aid, unlike a lot of the people who are in those meetings. I happen to believe that, you know, the United States has a leadership role to perform. But here are these secret meetings setting forth goals for Iraq: providing health care for every Iraqi. (Laughter.) I mean, it sounds like a Saturday Night Live skit, right? (Laughter, applause.) And one of the features that would be particularly relevant to you: ensuring that every Iraqi child went to a modern, new school. (Laughter.) Well, you know, that wouldn't be so heartbreaking if this administration hadn't eliminated the Clinton administration's program to put 100,000 qualified teachers in classrooms and to build, construct and maintain the schools that we need right here at home! (Applause.)
So there's a lot to be concerned about. But I want to focus on education because this, to me, is at the core of the false choices that are being foisted upon the American public right now.
You know, I have a lot of wonderful young people who work for me in my Senate offices here in Washington and throughout New York, and I sometimes find it hard to explain what the political calculus is that would take away funding from the people doing the jobs you're doing.
In fact, I know that in this crowd somewhere is Sharon Swacker (sp), a librarian at New York City Technical College, who happens to be the mother of Deb Swacker (sp) in my office. So I have to mention her. (Laughter, applause.)
But when I think about the differences between my growing-up years, where even my very conservative Republican father believed in investing in education and in public education, believing that that was the route to personal success and to national success, I don't know where the people making policy in this administration come from, because look at what they've done in just the last two years. For all the rhetoric we've heard from this president on education, the promise of No Child Left Behind has been broken, and it was broken almost as soon as the ink dried on signing the legislation. (Light applause.)
You know, we have just completed work on the fiscal 2004 budget, and it was a battle for every single penny to go into education. The president proposed slashing his own funding for Leave No Child Behind by $700 million and eliminating 47 programs authorized in the No Child Left Behind Act, including the School Leadership Program that I was proud to champion, and teacher development funding, which I also was proud to champion. Now at the same time the goal is to try to recruit and retain a high-quality teacher in every classroom, the president's budget proposed no new funding for teacher training programs. Now, all in all, this budget provides approximately $8.9 billion less than what a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen and -women agreed was appropriate when we wrote the law just two years ago.
I was on the committee that considered and wrote that law. When I voted for it out of committee, I said my vote is premised on there being enough funding to do this right, otherwise it is a hollow promise. When I voted for it on the floor of the Senate, I said the very same thing.
Well, it didn't take very long for us to realize that the bargain we tried to strike between a very big investment of federal dollars in education, combined with national standards and accountability, was not being kept. And what's worse -- and this is really unbelievable -- the president's budget diverts funds away from our public schools and puts them toward private schools and programs through vouchers and tuition tax credits. (Boos from audience.)
Now, I just have to ask you, do you think we can really afford to spend $750 million on a vouchers demonstration project and tax credits when we're laying off teachers, when our buildings are falling down, when we don't have adequate resources for the children in our public schools? Anyone who looked at that fairly and objectively, without an ideological or partisan agenda, would answer no. So you have to ask yourself, in addition to starving the public schools, breaking the promise on No Child Left Behind, what is the real agenda here? And I have to confess that I have concluded the real agenda among many people in this administration and on the other side of the aisle in the Congress is to destroy the public school base in this country! (Applause.)
I can just hear it now, you know, depending upon the '04 elections -- and we have a lot depending on the '04 elections -- but depending on the outcome, if we still have a Republican -- if we still have the president in office after the '04 election, I can hear the speeches now: 'We tried. We gave the biggest amount of money that had ever been given by the federal government. We had the most far- reaching reform that had ever been adopted. We tried, but see, the public schools are still failing, so let's do what we need to do and privatize education.' That is what I predict to you the sequence of events that will unfold unless we electorally and politically and organizationally stand against that effort to undermine public education. (Applause.)
What we now have -- and I want to recognize the commissioner because New York was one of the first three states to have its No Child Left Behind Act approved. But the money has not been forthcoming, and, given the budget situation in the state, it is going to be very difficult to try to meet those goals and objectives. And not only has the administration turned its back on No Child Left Behind, it's doing the same with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Under most assumptions, the president's budget delays full funding of IDEA until 2027.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Ohhh.
SEN. CLINTON: Now, I worked many, many years ago, as a young lawyer, for the Children's Defense Fund. We went door to door in census tracts finding out where children were who weren't in school, and I am a stalwart supporter of IDEA. But when we passed that law, back in the mid-'70s, we said, 'We're going to provide 40 percent of the funding from the federal government.' Well, the most we've ever gotten to is about 19 percent. And you know the effects on your schools. Increasing expenditures, tax increases, all kinds of burdens, financially, that were supposed to be alleviated by the federal government.
And it is tragic to me that despite the Senate passing a measure for full funding, despite my voting once again for full funding for IDEA in the budget debate we just finished, this administration has no intention of providing the federal funds that are needed. And in fact, we have another problem with another area, and that's with the Perkins dollars and vocational education, a program that the president has proposed to overhaul, at the same time trying to cut its budget by 25 percent.
I put an amendment in this budget debate to try to restore the funding for vocational and technical education; I got up to one vote shy, so I'm not giving up on that either. We're going to keep working for more funding for education across the board
But it seems to me that we're once again being confronted with a false choice. There is nobody I can find who isn't already a partisan ideologue who thinks that this huge tax cut is going to stimulate the economy, improve the job prospects of Americans; but it will give an enormous windfall to people who, frankly, don't need it. Now, you know, my husband is, for the first time in our lives, making some money, and -- (applause, cheers) -- so, you know, you might say, 'Well, maybe she has some mixed feelings about this.' But I don't! I don't!
We don't need it, we don't want it. We'd rather have it go into teacher salaries and into school construction, into making our country stronger! (Applause.) Because in the absence of some budgetary relief, schools are going to be laying off teachers. I have seen some estimates that at least half of all New York schools are going to be laying off teachers. We're going to have more crowded classrooms, just when we were making progress in lowering class size, in giving every child the kind of attention all of you wish to give that child. We were making real progress.
I'm very proud of New York City with the progress that's been made because of lower class size and more intensive resources going in to support teachers in a lot of those schools that need that extra help. (Applause.) And what's going to happen? We're going to see all that progress undone because of these broken promises, these unfunded mandates. And sadly, it is not just elementary and secondary students who are suffering, we see pre-K being cut out in so many districts. And we all know that early childhood makes a difference throughout an entire youngster's school career.
And at the other end of education, we're seeing tremendous pressures on who's going to be able to afford to go to college, you know, one of the central pieces of the American dream, to be able to go to college, to lift yourself up. And in New York, we know that college for low-income students is in jeopardy. The governor's budget raises tuition by one-third, while cutting the tuition assistance program. So, I mean, it's like a -- you know, Catch-22. Here goes your costs going up, and here goes TAP going down. And that's going to affect probably 300,000 low-income and middle-income New Yorkers.
And we're not doing any better to step up to the plate in the Congress to try to make sure that we've got increased funding for Pell grants. And, you know, we are going to do our best to fight for all of us, but it's going to be a struggle because as the leader of the House -- he may not be the speaker, but everybody knows he's the leader, Tom DeLay said the other day that in the face of war, in the face of decreasing spending on -- (audio break from source) -- health care, the number one priority of this nation are the tax cuts. So that's the -- (audio break).
And unfortunately, we're going to have to fight hard and make our voices heard, and make it clear that we want to get back on the track we were on two years ago. You know, there are always going to be adjustments that have to be made economically and in programs. We all know that.
But why on earth would we veer off a pathway that was leading to more opportunities, to expanding responsibility and strengthening community, giving New Yorkers and Americans a chance to really build for a better future?
And I hope that in all of the work that we do together, and it's a great privilege for me to work with you, we're able to make the case that was made when I was growing up that investing in education is not just good for the individual, it's good for all of us. And making it clear that we want to be an America again that is united, that doesn't give special privilege to anybody but gives opportunity to everyone -- (applause) -- that we want to make the investments that will lead us to being richer and safer and smarter and stronger across the board.
Because the alternative vision is an increasingly divided society by income, and race, and ethnicity and so many other characteristics, where our investments in public goods like education and hospitals diminishes and the best services are only available to those who are very wealthy and well connected. That is not the America I was born into, that is not the America I was raised in, that is not the America that my husband and I tried to lead with all of you for eight years, that will not be the America that I will in any way allow to come to pass if I have anything to do about it. (Applause.)
Thank you all very much! (Applause.)
END
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