Category: Stefany Moore
Bush’s Budget ‘Leaving Children Behind’
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002–Despite President George W. Bush’s promise to “leave no child behind,” students in the nation are suffering from massive state education cuts-and no help from the federal government is on the way, members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are saying.
“State reductions in school funding and the worst federal education budget in seven years are cutting off the promise of school reform at the knees,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) said Tuesday.
“In fact, the federal budget released by the Bush Administration increased education funding by less than inflation-the smallest increase in education funding in the last seven years,” according to a report Kennedy issued the same day.
The report was prepared by the Democratic staffs of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The Leave No Child Behind Act was signed into law in January after winning overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. It was aimed at dramatically reforming the K-12 school system. These changes included requiring schools to be more accountable for the success of their students and to emphasize teaching methods that have proven successful.
Some Massachusetts members of Congress, however, are saying that the budget that President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress have proposed is not living up to Bush’s promise of ensuring that every child has a quality education.
“Millions of public school children and their families are being left behind, and it looks now as if the Republican leadership in the House may not even bring up the education appropriations bill because it would embarrass their own members so close to the election,” Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) said last month. “They are afraid the public will catch on to the fact that the president’s rhetoric doesn’t match the reality of his budget.”
“In combination with inflation, the result of this lowball budget is 18,000 fewer teachers getting trained, 33,000 fewer children in after-school programs and yet another year without the needed resources to turn around failing schools,” Tierney added.
Bush’s budget calls for a 2.8 percent increase for education this fiscal year, compared with a 16 percent hike last year, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Thomas Consolati, the district superintendent of Gloucester Public Schools, said he was most concerned with obtaining enough money from the federal government to increase literacy among disadvantaged students. Most so-called Title I funds are used to pay for special-education teachers’ salaries and student services, which are usually adjusted annually for inflation.
“If the Title I allocation to us doesn’t increase commensurate with salary and benefit increases of the staff, then you end up with less money, meaning less services-bottom line-to kids,” Consolati said.
Ken Lisaius, a White House spokesman, would not comment on specific numbers in Bush’s budget, but said: “The president’s landmark education legislation that passed in Congress is the most significant piece of education legislation ever passed. It returned accountability to a system that too long lacked it.”
OMB, which helps the president prepare the federal budget, emphasized that now was the time for schools to be accountable for the funds they have allocated.
“We have provided resources. We are providing resources,” said Amy Call, a spokeswoman for OMB. “Now they need to move forward and show results from the resources they’ve gotten.”
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Mass. Schools get a D- for Affordability
WASHINGTON, Oct. 02, 2002--Students in Massachusetts are paying more to attend public and private colleges in the state than students in most other states, according to a U.S. report card on higher education released Wednesday.
The report, issued by the National Center for Public Policy and Education, said families are paying 78 percent of their income for their students to attend private institutions in the commonwealth. This is well over double the 32 percent share that families pay in the top-performing states.
For those who attend state community colleges, their families are paying 21 percent of their income, compared with an average of 16 percent in other states.
Overall, the report gave Massachusetts a "D-" for affordability.
Stephanie Doussard, a Gloucester resident and student at Salem State College, was not surprised by these figures. Because of this year's massive state budget cuts for public higher education, Doussard's annual school fees have increased $900, and her college has cut back on a number of expenditures.
"Now I'm paying $900 more this year, and don't even have books in the library to do my homework," Doussard said.
Since Massachusetts cut its higher education funding in December by 6.2 percent, Salem State has cut back on scholarship awards, closed computer labs and discontinued purchase of numerous library materials.
"We have absolutely no new reference books," Doussard said. "And instead of having 35 periodicals on the shelf, we have about six."
Since the cuts in December, a large grassroots effort is emerging on campus at Salem State. Students and alumni have created an organization, Community Action Network, aimed at restoring state funding for higher education.
The organization has held a teach-in on campus and encouraged students and faculty to write to their legislators and to Governor Jane Swift, a Republican.
"Every generation has a way to stand up for what they believe in," said Cindy McMahon, a junior at Salem State and a member of CAN. "This is our way."
CAN is trying to alert legislators that students who attend public colleges in Massachusetts are likelier than students who go to private colleges to stay within the state and contribute to the economic well-being of the commonwealth when they graduate.
"We are trying to get the state house to realize that public higher education is the solution to our economic problems in the commonwealth," McMahon said.
"We are in a desperate situation," said Sarah Newcomb, a member of CAN and a student-elected trustee of Salem State College.
Newcomb said that those who cannot afford to go to a large private university depend on public institutions for an education.
"State schools are usually the only outlet to change their economic situation," said Newcomb.
Wednesday's report wasn't the only one giving Massachusetts poor ratings for higher education.
In January, the Chronicle of Higher Education published a survey that rated Massachusetts second-to-last in state-sponsored funding for public higher education in fiscal year 2002.
In an interview on the rising cost of attending college, Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), expressed frustration that North Shore students are struggling to pay for their education.
"It's a shame that Massachusetts is 49th out of 50 states," Tierney said. "It's not the Massachusetts that people really think of. We always think of it as being right up there amongst the top."
"I am a Salem State College product," Tierney added. "I wouldn't have probably been able to go to college anywhere (else) for financial reasons. My family just didn't have the money."
Though Tierney said he understood the budget crisis in Massachusetts, he was disappointed that higher education was not more of a priority for the State House.
"I don't know who the people that are cutting it think they are playing to. If they think they're being real fiscal conservatives playing to the business community, they're not," he said
In order to have "employable" people to contribute to the economic well being of the state, he said, students need access to quality education.
"And that means more than the ones that can just afford Harvard but the ones that can get an education by going through the public institutions too," he said.
"There's a lot of work to be done."
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Kennedy to Extend Unemployment Benefits
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2002--Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would extend unemployment benefits for jobless workers and provide additional benefits for people in states with high unemployment rates, such as Massachusetts.
"Massachusetts has the highest unemployment in New England, and there's very little indication that it's going to change," Kennedy said at a press conference.
The legislation, drafted by Kennedy and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), would continue the current program that awards jobless benefits for 13 weeks to people in most states, which is due to expire at the end of this year. Their bill would provide an additional 20 weeks of temporary extended benefits for workers in Massachusetts and other "high unemployment" states and an additional 13 weeks of benefits for workers in all other states.
Last month, the Massachusetts unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, 1.2 percentage points higher than a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Massachusetts reported the third-highest rate increase in the country during that period, though its current rate is below the national average.. There are 8.1 million Americans out of work, or 5.7 percent of the workforce, according to the Department of Labor. Kennedy blamed the Bush administration, and said that since Bush assumed office in January 2001, the economic well-being of the country has vastly deteriorated.
"This is not just an economic coincidence," he said. "It is the result of the economic policies of this administration-policies which neglect the basic needs of working men and women, lavish extravagant tax breaks on the wealthiest taxpayers and allow corporate abuse and excess to go unchecked."
"There are now 8.1 million unemployed Americans, 2.2 million more than when President Bush took office," Kennedy added. "And no amount of tax cuts for the rich can restore their jobs and pay their bills."
Last March, Congress temporarily extended benefits in a similar measure, as is often done during a recession. But Kennedy said further extensions were essential.
"Already, more than one million workers have exhausted these benefits without finding a new job, and another two million will join their ranks by the end of the year," Kennedy said.
The $14 billion needed for the program would come from the federal Unemployment Benefit Trust Fund, which, according to Kennedy, is in surplus by $28 billion.
"These are funds that have been paid in by workers…. We have the resources to do it, and the administration should support it," he said.
In the recession of the early 1990s, during the earlier Bush administration, Congress extended unemployment benefits three times. Last March's legislation was the only extension awarded during the current recession, Kennedy said.
"It is rare to have this kind of vehement opposition by the administration and by Republicans in the face of these extraordinary economic indicators," Kennedy said.
But according to a statement released Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee, Republicans in Congress have provided significant support to the unemployed. They see Kennedy's proposal as "well beyond 'temporary' support," according to the statement.
"There is no free lunch," the statement says. "Despite what proponents say about benefits being 'paid for,' higher benefits today require higher taxes (or reduced benefits) tomorrow."
Kennedy said he expected the Senate to take up the issue within weeks.
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Coast Guard to Revolutionize Communication with Boaters
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--As the U.S. Coast Guard braces for a massive shift in becoming a focal point of the proposed Department of Homeland Security, it also is about to dramatically overhaul its search and rescue communication system.
The Coast Guard announced Tuesday a $611 million contract to modernize its 30-year-old system of responding to mariners in distress. By improving search and rescue capacity, the new National Distress and Response System Modernization Project, or "Rescue 21," will improve the Coast Guard's ability to enforce maritime laws, reduce damage to the marine environment, and respond to mayday calls from boaters, according to U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thomas H. Collins.
Using "Rescue 21," a mariner in distress will make the equivalent of a "911" call for help, and the Coast Guard will be able to pinpoint the location of the caller, identify the closest rescue vessels and send help.
"'Rescue 21' will help us to overcome current challenges we have, challenges meaning blind spots in communication," said Phyllis Gamache-Jensen, Public Affairs Chief for the First District Coast Guard, which oversees operations in Gloucester.
The new system also will help the Coast Guard discern between legitimate and illegitimate mayday calls.
"The Northeast has been plagued with fake distress calls for many years," said Gamache-Jensen.
Under the current system, the Coast Guard communicates with mariners by way of radio transmitters, receivers, antenna high sites, and transmission lines. The current communication system covers the U.S. coastline, including the Great Lakes and other interior waterways, out to approximately 20 nautical miles from shore.
However, there are gaps in communication and the Coast Guard is unable to hear distress calls along the 95,000-mile-long U.S. coastline.
Once fully deployed, the new system will reduce those gaps from about 14 percent to less than 2 percent, according to General Dynamics, the Arizona company awarded the contract for developing the system.
"['Rescue 21'] will take the 'search' out of search and rescue," said Admiral Collins.
The award announcement comes amid criticism that the Coast Guard has diverted many of its resources from search and rescue, as well as regulating fishing fleets, to preventing terrorism at the nation's ports.
However, at a Department of Transportation press conference, Collins vehemently disputed these claims.
"If there's any question that the Coast Guard might be abandoning search and rescue do to our increasing homeland security measures, let this $611 million contract be the clear answer to that question," Collins said.
The system design comprises ground-based installations at approximately 270 Coast Guard facilities, more than 300 radio towers, new communications equipment on 657 Coast Guard vessels and 3,000 portable radios.
Boaters will use the same radios they have today to communicate with the Coast Guard.
General Dynamics will field-test the new system in Maryland and New Jersey in 2003, and it is expected to be completed across the United States by 2006.
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Kennedy Calls for Funding Increase to Combat West Nile Virus
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said yesterday he wants Congress to increase funding for hospitals and public health programs to protect Americans from the emerging threat of the West Nile Virus.
"In a few short weeks, the virus has spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from border to border," said Kennedy, adding that the virus "can imperil the safety of the blood supply and transplanted organs."
As of Tuesday, 2 deaths and 10 human cases of the mosquito-born disease have been reported in Massachusetts this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 98 deaths in the country since January 1, 2002, according to the CDC.
"What we've learned this summer is that mosquitoes can do more than ruin a backyard barbecue," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chairman of Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Governmental Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia.
In a joint Senate Committee hearing Tuesday, public health officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. National Institute of Health, and the CDC appeared in order to provide lawmakers with information about the emerging health threat posed by the West Nile Virus. The hearing focused on the adequacy of the federal response to the increased disease incidence as well as assessing current blood supply safeguards.
Recent reports have shown that the virus may be transmitted by blood and by transplanted organs.
"We need to determine whether the FDA and other public health agencies are taking proper steps to protect the safety of the blood supply and transplanted organs, and whether the NIH is developing the new vaccines, therapies and diagnostic tests as rapidly as possible to prevent infection and to protect the health of those affected by West Nile," Kennedy said.
Currently, there are no drugs on the market, no vaccines and, no diagnostic tests specifically for the West Nile Virus in blood that is donated or transfused.
However, a vaccine for the elderly, and those most at risk for the disease, could be available within 3 years, according to Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH who testified before the committee yesterday.
In his opening statement, Kennedy condemned the Bush administration's efforts in working to combat the disease.
"Unfortunately, the Administration's budget steps backward when it comes to protecting the public health," he said. "While purporting to provide more funding to hospitals to strengthen public health and combat bioterrorism, the President's budget actually cuts funding to America's hospitals," Kennedy said.
The public health officials yesterday all stressed the need for the public to do its part in preventing the disease.
Julie Louise Gerberding, CDC director, recommended removing standing water where mosquitoes thrive, wearing long sleeves, using insect repellant with DEET, and installing proper screens to protect homes.
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Cancer Rally Spreads Hope
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2002--The scene at the nation's capital Thursday could be described in one word: purple.
Nearly 6,000 American Cancer Society (ACS) volunteers clad in purple T-shirts, crowded the National Mall and Capitol Hill as part of "Celebration on the Hill" a day to celebrate cancer survivorship and push Congress to provide more funds for cancer research and prevention. The delegates represented all 50 states and each of the 435 Congressional districts, including two from Essex County.
Bumping to the tunes of "Stayin' Alive" and "Celebration," the group rallied at a makeshift track around the National Mall, with individuals from every state delegation walking the track at all times. The relay, according to ACS, was meant to symbolize the ongoing fight against cancer. The participants sported purple shirts covered with buttons and ribbons calling for more funding for many types of cancer.
"Celebration [on the Hill] is the cumulative voice of millions of American Cancer Society volunteers sending a message to our elected leaders that cancer is an issue in their own backyards," said Ray Davis, the event chair of the volunteer task force, his voice beaming across the Mall through loudspeakers.
With lawmakers anxiously working to complete the federal budget, volunteers (or "community ambassadors," as they called themselves) each visited a congressman from their district to garner support for cancer research and education programs, and to call for expanded access to early detection and treatment to help people fight cancer.
Jessica Slate, who has worked with a Gloucester organization fighting tobacco use, and Robert Mehrman, a Beverly anti-tobacco education consultant, met with Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) in his office and encouraged him to free up more funding for the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
"I told him to show me the money," Mehrman said. "He said 'okay.'"
They both agreed that their meeting with Tierney went well and said the congressman had long been a supporter of funding for cancer-related programs.
"He knew pretty much all about what we were here for," Slate said. "He feels that there's got to be some changes in the way the U.S. government is spending money."
Slate's grandfather was diagnosed with cancer when she was young, and she has had two members of her family die of the disease. Mehrman, 75, has survived cancer of the larynx, bladder and prostate and is now battling a relapse of the bladder cancer.
Despite the fact that many of the participants had lost loved ones to cancer or had undergone massive hardships themselves because of the disease, the mood in the tent designated for Massachusetts volunteers was nothing but hopeful.
"We can't influence public policy like the PACs can," said Thomas Sellers, chief financial officer of ACS's New England Division. "But we can show we've got community-based support all across the country."
When asked what he hoped to bring back to the people of Massachusetts from the event, Mehrman, speaking with an electric voice box used by people who have had their larynx removed, said, simply, "Hope."
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Committee Meeting Sparks Controversy About Union Contributions
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2002--A Republican-led House subcommittee succeeded Wednesday in approving two bills aimed at requiring labor unions to disclose their financial records to new members.
On a party-line 8-6 vote, the Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations approved the legislation that would force labor unions to comply with the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, an annual statement specifying where union dues are spent Critics have accused unions of not adhering to the details of the law.
The subcommittee action drew fresh attention to a controversial political-year issue: the powerful role of labor unions in contributing to candidates, especially Democrats.
The first bill would require unions to release spending records to new members within 90 days of their joining the organization. The second would authorize the Labor Department to investigate complaints from members concerning a union's failure to disclose expenditures.
Democrats, including Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), voted against the bills, arguing that there already is similar legislation in place and that the new measures would only inconvenience all parties involved.
"I don't see any reason to put in place a bill that not only burdens the unions unnecessarily but overburdens the Department of Labor," Tierney said in an interview.
"There are certain members on the other side that are just totally anti-union. And it's election season and it's time to bring out those bills and bang them out," he added
From the beginning of last year through June 30 of this year, Tierney has collected more than $66,000 from labor unions, nearly two-thirds of the total money he has received from political action groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The full committee still must approve the legislation for it to reach the House floor this year.
Supporters of the legislation said the measures were necessary because in the past, unions have failed to file the forms and inform new members of their rights.
"Union members have been constrained for nearly 40 years, and now is the time to give them their rights back," said subcommittee chairman. Sam Johnson (R-Texas.), the sponsor of both measures.
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Kerry Says Bush U.N. Speech a Good Step, But Not Enough for War
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2002--Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. applauded President Bush's speech to the United Nations Thursday as an effort to gather international support for ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. However, Kerry said military force should be used only as a last resort.
"If you're going to go to war…you do so because you have to, not because you want to," he said at a Capitol Hill press conference. "I think that's the only way you can look a parent in the face if they have lost a son or daughter, saying that 'we really didn't have any choice.' "
Kerry's comments were in response to Bush's speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which the president called upon the U.N. to require Iraq to honor its commitments.
"The Iraqi regime agreed to destroy and stop developing all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, and to prove to the world it has done so by complying with rigorous inspections. Iraq has broken every aspect of this fundamental pledge," asserted Bush.
The president also asked world leaders to move "deliberately" and "decisively" against Saddam if he does not comply with U.N. resolutions.
Kerry said that Saddam's non-compliance with U.N. resolutions is not enough to justify the use of force to remove the Iraqi leader.
Two other members of the local delegation, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., Thursday expressed similar views to Kerry's.
Though Kerry said it was important for Congress to support the president's efforts in consulting with the U.N., he urged the Bush administration to continue working closely with the international community to come to a consensus on the best way to deal with the Iraqi regime.
"It's important to support the president, and it's important to support the approach to the United Nations, and it's important to support the definition of Saddam Hussein as a problem," he said. "But I think it would be a mistake for us to declare … unilateral steps we will take, no matter what the United Nations does."
In an interview today, Tierney also praised Bush for making a positive first step in addressing the worldwide community.
"It appears that at least the president is refocusing to look at international issues" by consulting with the U.N., he said.
However, Tierney said he was "skeptical" about invading Iraq without any concrete evidence from the administration that Saddam Hussein posed a direct threat to the U.S.
Kerry said that though the president had made a positive step in approaching the U.N., he still needed to make a case for war.
"I think the president today laid out a case for Saddam Hussein's egregious behavior with respect to the United Nations," he said. "I think the president could have… and will be connecting the dots with respect to the potential terrorist linkages."
Kerry said he did not expect Congress to vote on any resolution authorizing the use of force until the president had laid out a clear framework of where he intended to go with regard to Iraq and what role the U.N. would play in that action.
"If the President of the United States, as of this Sunday has not made up his mind as to what options to use, it is premature to come to Congress and tell us what we should do, when the president doesn't know what he's doing," said Kerry.
In a statement Kennedy said, "There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious threat. I commend President Bush for expressing America's willingness to work with the United Nations to end that threat."
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
