DeLauro Joins CT Parent Power Forum, Speaks with Middletown Parents and Teachers

New Haven, CT— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, joined a forum held by CT Parent Power today to speak with Middletown parents and teachers about the impacts the proposed budget cuts would have on Connecticut residents, and specifically on the state's education funding.

As Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, Congresswoman DeLauro serves as the top Democrat overseeing the budgets for our country's education and health care. She joined the forum today to explain what the new House majority's recently passed budget could mean for Connecticut, and to hear from local parents and teachers about their concerns. The budget, which significantly reduces funding for education, will be debated by the United States Senate starting next week, and will ultimately need to be approved by the Senate, the House, and the President.

CT Parent Power was established in 2001 by parent leaders from Danbury, Meriden, Norwalk, New Britain and Waterbury to provide a united parent voice at the state level. CT Parent Power focuses on high quality early care and education programs, quality affordable health care, and well-funded and accountable schools, and has grown to over 2,500 parent supporters from more than 100 towns across Connecticut

"I believe that the issues of education and health care are the fabric of our society, and fighting for them is what propelled me to run for Congress over 20 years ago. Unfortunately, these critical priorities are under threat from this new House budget, which passed last Friday. The new majority promised the nation they were coming to Washington to focus on jobs and the deficit. But they have been in a reckless rush to slash, without much regard to the impact on the economy, on the middle-class, and on our children. This budget will cost us jobs, slow down economic growth, and explode the deficit

"The cuts to education are staggering. Over $700 million in Title I funding, which aids nearly four million at-risk children across the country, is cut. This means teachers will be laid off, after-school programs will close, and disadvantaged kids will lose the benefits these programs have long provided. IDEA, which serves children with disabilities, has also been cut, forcing school districts to give pink slips to thousands of special education teachers and aides. Older students get hit hard too, with critical Pell grants, which make college possible for close to nine million students, will be cut by almost $850 a year.

"On health care too, this budget is filled with misplaced priorities that will harm children, families and our economy. The budget resolution defunds the health care law we passed last year. It attempts to roll back all the reforms we worked to pass, and puts insurers back in the driver's seat. It is estimated that defunding this bill will destroy up to 400,000 jobs a year over the next decade, and add $230 billion to the deficit. Funding for Community Health Centers is cut by a billion dollars, meaning that every health center in America will see cuts, and 125 new centers will have to close their doors entirely.

"This proposed budget is deeply out of touch with the mainstream priorities of the country, and I stand in strong opposition to it. We should not be placing the burdens of these cuts on the backs of our children. And I look forward to working with the president and the Senate to see that the budget we actually pass gets back to common sense and mainstream priorities."