20 The Portland Observer June 13, 1990
A future should be something 1
everyone can afford.
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
The Federal Commitment
n the eve of his
first run for the
presidency. Repub
lican Thom as E.
Dewey observed,
"It is a cruel illusion to pass
laws which are a mere pro
mise without also taking the
measures necessary to fulfill
ment of that promise.”
Dewey's 1939 observation
could today serve as a com
mentary on federal laws that
support public education.
For despite the President's
and the governors' pledge to
improve education, despite
their commitment at the re
cent education summit, rhet
oric and reality remain out
of sync. We still await the
performance that would give
substance to these promises.
Just how wide the chasm
between promise and per
formance has become is doc
umented in a recently re
cused report titled Federal
E ducation Funding: The
Cost o f Excellence.
This research-based docu
ment d etails the gaps in
funding for 12 of our na
tion's most important, and
most successful, federal edu
cation programs—programs
such as Head Start, Chapter
., college student grants,
and the Education for All
Handicapped Children Act.
The Cost o f Excellence
documents the decade-long
decline in federal support
for essential education pro
grams. The report also offers
realistic estim ates of the
level of federal assistance
needed to make these pro
grams available to all eligi
ble students.
Federal education funding
has been on a treadmill for
several years. In fact, in
many areas we’re actually
going backwards. Case in
point: the federal govern
ment promised to fund 40
percent of the cost of edu
cating A m erica's han d i
capped young people, cur-
O
H C ii
Time
To Stop
Promising,
Start
Performing
KEITH GEIGER
President. \ E I
rently $8,800 a year. Meet
ing that promise would re
quire a federal contribution
of $3,352 per handicapped
student. In reality, the con
tribution is $352. That's a
90 percent shortfall!
Another example: Head
Start, arguably our nation's
most successful preschool
program, currently serves
450.000 stu d en ts. That s
impressive. But 2.5 million
American youngsters are eli
gible for Head Start. That
means our federal funding
com m itm ent denies more
than 2 million needy stu
dents access to this program.
This performance makes
a mockery of recent promis
es. It was. after all, less than
three months ago that Presi
dent Bush and our nation's
governors set forth an
impressive agenda designed
to ensure America’s prepar
edness for the 21st century.
They defined six national
education goals—all ambi
tious, all impressive, all true
to the ideal of equity.
These goals will remain
no more than pipe dreams
unless, and until, fiscal com
mitments match rhetorical
commitments.
If the pledge to improve
education is not to be an
empty gesture, all segments
of our society—teachers, ad
ministrators, parents, busi
nesses. religious institutions,
and communities—must de
mand fundamental shifts in
national funding priorities.
Progress in this direction
has been, at best, sluggish.
Congress is now debating
the federal budget for fiscal
year 1991. It's time for all
Americans to band together
and insist that powerful pro
mises be matched by power
ful performance. We need
strong action, action that
gives real meaning to the
pledge that all our youth
shall be prepared for the
challenges and the opportu
nities that await them.
We must remember that
to d ay 's stu d en ts are the
guardians of America’s to
morrow. Right now, too
many of those students are
suffering. They are victim
ized by policies of neglect,
policies that border on child
abuse.
The only way to end this
abuse is for the President and
the Congress to stop promis
ing and start performing. And
the place to begin is with a
new fiscal agenda that will
unleash rather than stifle the
potential of America's young
people.
National Education Association • 1201 Sixteenth Street, N.W • Washington, DC 20036
(202) 822-7200
I was lucky. A talent for basketball
helped me make it. But not all kids are
that lucky. For many young Blacks educa
tion is the only way. That’s why Miller Lite
and the National Basketball Association
created the Thurgood Marshall Black
Education Fund. To support public Black
colleges and their students. Public col
leges do not get the backing that some
private colleges do. With your contribu
tions, the Thurgood Marshall Fund can
help deserving students pay for schooling,
and preserve the quality of our public
Black colleges.
So give to the Thurgood Marshall
Black Education Fund. With Miller Lite and
you, we can help put a higher education
within reach. Because a future should be
something everyone can afford.
THE THURGOOD MARSHALL
BLACK EDUCATION FUND
---------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- --------
c
“1
1
I w ant to support the Thurgood Marshall Black
j| Education Fund. Here’s my donation of $ ____________
j|
towards the future of our public Black colleges.
|l
N A M E ______________________________________________________________________
*|
p
ADDRESS___________________________________________________________________
1
|
CITY_____________________________________STATE___________ _____ Z IP ________
Please send check or money order |do not send cash) to: The Thurgood Marshall Black
Education Fund. One Dupont Circle, N W , Suite 710ML, Washington, DC. 20036.
|l
I______________________________________________
.1
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