Jeffords Unveils Education Funding Initiative at LCCR National Board Meeting
Feature Story by Katie Drake - 5/8/2002
The vast majority of the problems facing our public education system today can be traced to the federal government’s failure to provide adequate resources, argued Senator James Jeffords (I-VT) at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights’ (LCCR) National Board Meeting.To counter this trend, Senator Jeffords announced a new initiative entitled "Ten in Ten," which calls on Congress to increase education spending to 10 percent of the federal government's budget, the same rate of funding as it received in the 1940’s. Under this proposal, increases would be phased in at 1 percent every year for ten years. Spending on elementary, secondary, and post secondary now comprises only 2.6 percent of the federal government’s budget.
Senator Jeffords, the keynote speaker at a meeting that also featured presentations by LCCR members National Women’s Law Center, People for the American Way, National Council of La Raza, National Partnership for Women and Families, and AARP, was introduced by Hugh Price, LCCR Executive Committee member and President and CEO of the National Urban League. The National Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream.
Educational equity is one of Senator Jeffords’s signature issues. Last May, when he announced his departure from the Republican Party, forcing the Republicans to relinquish Senate leadership, Senator Jeffords cited, among other reasons for his decision, his disapproval of the Bush administration’s refusal to fully fund its own education reform recommendations.
In addition to education, Senator Jeffords has shown commitment to many other areas of civil rights. In the area of welfare and labor issues, he has supported a greater increase of funding for child care to help welfare recipients return to work and a minimum wage increase to help decrease poverty in the United States. Senator Jeffords has also worked to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and has remained committed to improving the quality of life for our senior citizens.
Wade Henderson, Executive Director of LCCR, thanked Senator Jeffords for standing on principle in the face of political opposition, and for putting his own career and popularity at risk for the future of our country.
The National Board Meeting, which presents a special forum for LCCR member organizations to discuss emerging civil and human rights policy issues and review LCCR’s operations, also featured special policy presentations on judicial nominations, civil rights enforcement, Social Security reform, and communications/information technology.
