Standing Up for Children
Standing Up for Change
January 30, 2004
In an important speech in Detroit yesterday, Governor Dean laid out his case that only someone who had the courage to speak out against George Bush when his polls numbers were high – and someone with a real record of results not rhetoric – can beat him this fall:
“Eleven months ago, when few people knew our campaign existed, I asked the Democratic Party leadership some fundamental questions.
Why were so many Democrats in Washington supporting George Bush's unilateral war in Iraq? Why were they supporting No Child Left Behind?”
Leadership – and electability – are about having the courage to stand up for what you believe and what’s right even when the polls say it’s not popular. Today, Governor Dean spoke in South Carolina about what he’s done, and will do, for children.
Governor Dean opposed the No Child Left Behind Legislation when all the others supported it
While NCLB did ensure that school success is judged by all students – not just the majority, Governor Dean could see the measure’s overall negative impact overall on our children’s education and our local communities. In March 2001, he sent a letter to his Congressional delegation that outlined his concerns with the Bush proposal for “No Child Left Behind.”
Now our children are bearing the consequences of the legislation and the taxpayers are paying the tab of President Bush’s unfunded mandates.
- By not providing adequate funding for NCLB, President Bush has forced communities around America to increase property taxes to make up for massive education budget shortfalls.
- President Bush’s own budgets for NCLB have fallen $23.8 billion short of full funding, including a projected gap of $9.4 billion in FY’04.
- Under the NCLB standards 26,000 of the nation's 93,000 public schools failed to make adequate yearly progress this in 2003.
And it’s not just on No Child Left Behind that Howard Dean spoke out when it wasn’t popular – it was on the war in Iraq, the reckless tax cuts that have given us $500 billion deficits and for equal rights for all through civil unions.
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