{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-supports-education-reform", "CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE SUPPORTS EDUCATION REFORM", "2001-12-13", "2001", "2001-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Barbara Lee", "L000551", "lee.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.13.01\n\t\t\t CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE SUPPORTS EDUCATION REFORM \n\t\t\tWashington, DC B Congresswoman\r\nLee today joined an overwhelming majority of the House of Representatives in\r\npassing by a vote of 381-41, the conference report to H.R. 1, an historic\r\neducation bill that will raise student achievement levels through a combination\r\nof higher standards, stronger accountability, and increased resources.\r\nH.R. 1 provides teachers with new resources for mentoring, training, salary\r\nenhancement and other improvements. It also provides for an expanded\r\nafter-school program, greater support for technology programs and an expanded\r\nreading program, including a new pre-kindergarten reading program. The bill\r\nestablishes clear goals and a time line for narrowing the achievement gap\r\nbetween disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers and between\r\nminority and non-minority students, while targeting federal dollars toward the\r\nneediest children.\r\nAFor the first time in federal law,\r\nwe will set a goal of eliminating the harrowing achievement gap between rich and\r\npoor students and minority and non-minority students that has plagued our\r\neducational system for decades,@ said\r\nLee. AThe Oakland Unified School\r\ndistrict will receive more resources to serve our children.@\r\n\r\nThe Oakland Unified School District will directly benefit as the conference\r\nreport authorizes increased Title I funding to the nation=s\r\n50 school districts with the highest percentage of poor students. It also\r\nauthorizes funding for new small schools, which were each designed by the staff,\r\nparents and students. They are supported by a partnership between the District,\r\nOakland Community Organizations and the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable\r\nSchools, and have been given a unique degree of autonomy in the areas of\r\nstaffing, budget, curriculum and assessment.\r\n\r\nAThe hard work and unity of our Democratic Caucus has enabled Congress\r\nto pass a strong education reform bill that meets the high standards we set\r\nforth at the outset of this debate,@\r\nsaid Lee. AToday Congress has passed a\r\nbill that shows real promise of improving the quality of education for our\r\nchildren.@\r\n\r\nDemocrats were successful in defeating conservative provisions that some\r\nRepublicans attempted to insert into this legislation. Democrats were successful\r\nin defeating provisions for vouchers and state Block Grants. They were also\r\nsuccessful in retaining After-School programs and the Hate Crimes program that\r\nteaches tolerance in our schools. Perhaps most importantly, Democrats were\r\nsuccessful in their argument that we cannot have meaningful education reform\r\nwithout adequate resources. President Bush had only requested $19.2 billion for\r\nESEA programs, an increase of about or 3% for ESEA programs. In contrast, the\r\nconference report authorizes about $26.3 billion for ESEA programs, an increase\r\nof about 20%.\r\nPresident Bush is expected to sign the bill into law before Christmas.\r\n###\r\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n \n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-supports-education-reform"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3583069667220116, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}