Click here to watch Senator Blunt Rochester’s full remarks and exchange with the witnesses.
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s Subcommittee on Education & the American Family, today participated in a spotlight forum titled, “Robbing Our Students’ Futures: The Indefensible Attacks on Public Education.” Blunt Rochester and her colleagues, led by U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), discussed the multitude of harms the Trump administration has caused to K-12 education. Amidst the administration’s cancelling of grants mid-cycle, withholding of nearly $6 billion in education funds meant to support student achievement, disastrous budget proposals, and efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, states and districts across the country are left to pick up the pieces for students. Blunt Rochester and her colleagues raised these concerns and discussed how we can best support our students and the educators and professionals who work every day to ensure they have the tools and knowledge they need to succeed.
Yesterday, Blunt Rochester led Democrats in her first HELP Education & the American Family Subcommittee hearing focused on school choice and literacy. Blunt Rochester is a staunch advocate of public schools and has advocated for the critical role they play in ensuring students with disabilities have access to education. In April, Blunt Rochester joined colleagues in introducing the IDEA Full Funding Act. She also previously led 22 of her colleagues in writing to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon warning of the harms the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education will have on students with disabilities.
To watch Blunt Rochester’s full remarks and exchange, click here. Her opening statement can be found below, as delivered:
“Well first of all, thank you, Senator Hirono, for holding this incredible and important and timely spotlight hearing. The whole point, to me, is to shine a spotlight on what is really happening. I think it is really important to highlight – a thank you also to your members, the educators, the ones who are around the room. One of the things that you shared with us, Randi, earlier this year is that we need to make sure that you know that we are fighting for you, that we are here for you. And that is because on the back of your shirt, it says ‘protect our kids,’ because ultimately, that’s what it’s all about.
“I want to start off by asking a question really of you, Dr. Rodriguez, because, you know, to me, we started our hearing yesterday – in the HELP Committee, we had a subcommittee hearing on education. And it was held on K-12 education and for me, it was really important to push back on our Republican colleagues and the efforts to privatize, rather than prioritize our students’ future. I’m gonna say that again: prioritize vs. privatize our students’ future. And from this administration’s illegal withholding of billions of dollars in funds meant to support student success, to attempts to dismantle the only federal agency that is focused on education, to students’ civil rights, to attacking student achievement – there is a lot to talk about today in this hearing.
“And I want to thank each and every one of the panelists for the fight that you have, and I also want to thank you for thinking about what the future looks like. Because it isn’t just about this fight today, it’s about what the future looks like as well.”
###
Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.