A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                              Contact:  Kathryn Kahler    March 15, 1995                                     (202) 401-3026

Statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley Regarding House Rescission Vote

As the House prepares to vote on the rescission package, I urge members to reject the proposal to cut $1.675 billion in education spending. In its entirety, the proposed rescission package is bad for children, hurts education and sends a signal to America's parents that the new Congress is starting to tune them out.

Juvenile crime is soaring and drug use among our young people is on the rise again, yet the House is preparing to eliminate every single dollar -- $482 million -- for our Safe and Drug-Free School program, money that has already been appropriated.

Members of Congress cannot applaud Nancy Reagan one week for her positive efforts to curb drug use among our youth, and then turn around a few days later and vote to eliminate the Safe and Drug Free School program.

Frankly, you can not have it both ways. This type of thinking just doesn't add up and it does not send a positive message to worried parents and teachers who are on the front line in the war against drugs.

Homeless children, adult literacy, $60 million to improve teaching, tech prep, gifted and talented, bilingual education and arts in education are all programs that will face sudden severe cutbacks. If Goals 2000 funding is cut, 4,000 schools will not get the funding that they have been expecting to raise standards of discipline and academic achievement.

The proposal to rescind over 75 percent of our technology funding is the equivalent of eating your seed corn. Most schools have less technology than the neighborhood grocery store. The new Congress is not thinking ahead about how we move American education into the 21st century.

It is also important to recognize that much of the funding at risk is forward-funded to accommodate the school year. The sudden decision to cut this funding will be immediately felt and highly disruptive since it has already been budgeted.

I urge the full House to take a second look at what is being proposed, to think long-term and to see education as an investment in America's future. I urge the House to do the right thing for America's children and continue funding these important programs.

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