Press Releases

WASHINGTON - Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman and hundreds of child advocates today joined Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. George Miller to unveil the Dodd-Miller comprehensive Act to Leave No Child Behind. Not to be confused with the President's cleverly named "No Child Left Behind" education bill, the comprehensive Act to Leave No Child Behind provides federal support that ensures every child has what he or she needs to be healthy, safe and cared for in order to learn.

Marian Wright Edelman called on the President to truly leave no child behind and to stop dismantling Head Start, block-granting Medicaid, and slashing and freezing children's programs as proposed in his latest budget.

"It is time for the richest nation on earth to do what we know works to help all of our children. The Bush Administration is fighting hard to dismantle Head Start, Medicaid and critical child investments," said Edelman. "The Act to Leave No Child Behind will give every child in America a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start and a Safe Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities."

Rep. George Miller noted that the President has not delivered on his promise to children and their families.

"Just one year after signing the No Child Left Behind Act into law, the Bush Administration is breaking its promise to the children of America by failing to fund this historic initiative," said Miller. "The Republicans may have borrowed our slogan, but they refuse to carry out our mission. I am honored to join the true crusaders for child advocacy in our country, the Children's Defense Fund and their coalition, to set the record straight on what it means to truly Leave No Child Behind."

Sen. Christopher Dodd highlighted that supporting the Act to Leave No Child Behind and investing in children must be our nation's first priority.

"Buildings, roads and bridges aren't this nation's most important infrastructure— families are," said Dodd, the senior Democrat on the Senate Children and Families' Subcommittee. "This measure ensures that infrastructure isn't neglected by injecting critically important new resources into initiatives that we know work, ultimately making our children healthier and happier and families more secure."

The Act to Leave No Child Behind provides federal support to ensure every child a head start and a better education; helps assure more children a place to call home; expands tax relief to help low-wage working families escape poverty and become self-sufficient; assures every child enough to eat; and supports successful transition to adulthood through positive youth development measures; as well as a number of other initiatives aimed at giving each and every child a safe, fair, and healthy start in life.

The Bush Administration last week waged a budget war on poor children when it proposed a federal budget that would dismantle our nation's most important efforts to protect children. The White House plan would cut 30,000 children from child care assistance this year and 200,000 over five years, while requiring mothers leaving welfare to work more hours; cut 570,000 children from after-school programs; and create new bureaucratic barriers for disadvantaged children to get school lunches and for working parents to get their tax credits.

Hundreds of supporters of the Act to Leave No Child Behind from across the country, including Bishop Susan Morrison of Albany, NY; Child Welfare League Director Shay Bilchik; and RESULTS Director Sam Daly Harris spoke out today and met with key U.S. Senators and Representatives in Washington to lobby Congress to truly Leave No Child Behind.

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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.