Statement by Sandra Feldman,
President, American Federation of Teachers
on the House Labor, Health and Human Services
and Education Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill pitifully shortchanges education funding.  It comes in $8 billion below No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) authorized levels, slashes support for IDEA, and underfunds Title I a full 34 percent below the fiscal year 2004 congressional budget resolution.  This legislation also denies Pell Grant award increases to college aspirants who need a helping hand in the face of spiraling tuition costs. 

Congress appropriately has required that teachers, paraprofessionals, and other education practitioners meet NCLB requirements, but the congressional majority has failed to live up to its commitment to provide sufficient funding that will allow educators to implement that law.  If we truly want to provide high-quality public education for all, including the poorest children, financially struggling college hopefuls and special education students, then we need adequate and sustained federal support to pay for it.

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The AFT represents more than 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.