Atlanta, GA -- Michael Coles, candidate for the United States Senate, today called Paul Coverdell’s claims that he has improved education in America false. Coverdell’s claims were made in a new 30-second campaign commercial. During the past six years as a United States Senator, Paul Coverdell has not written or sponsored any piece of legislation that has had any effect on any school, public or private, in the United States. Coverdell has only sponsored 4 pieces of legislation that were enacted into law and none of the four had anything to do with education. Coles noted, “Paul Coverdell is painting himself an effective advocate for education when his actions in the United States Senate have shown that this simply is not the case. The fact of the matter is, there is not one thing that Georgia’s parents can look to that has improved education in which Paul Coverdell can take any credit. Coverdell says that he works, but who is he working for and what in the world is he working on?” In his 30-second campaign spot, Coverdell claims that his education bill “is the most comprehensive education bill to pass Congress in a decade”. However, even if it had been signed into law, it would have done almost nothing to help public schools. Coverdell’s bill had no money for new teachers or school construction to reduce class size, and it had no provisions for national standards in subjects such as mathematics and science. In the past six years, Paul Coverdell has voted against lowering class sizes through hiring new teachers and funding new school construction, establishing voluntary national standards, and improving school safety. Smaller Class Sizes In April, Coverdell was the deciding vote in defeating legislation to hire 100,000 new elementary school teachers. The amendment failed by one vote 49-50. Coverdell also voted against legislation that would have provided federal financing for $590.7 million in bonds to build new National Standards Coverdell was one of only 22 senators who voted against national standards for elementary and secondary students in mathematics and science. Coverdell voted against national standards legislation five times, despite the fact that the standards were voluntary and would have imposed no mandates or other obligations on state or local governments or school boards. Safe and Drug-Free Schools Paul Coverdell was one of only 20 Senators to vote against the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Community Act of 1994. The legislation, which was signed into law, provides $655 million a year in federal funding to establish, operate, and improve local programs of school and violence prevention. Federal Funding for Education In 1995, Paul Coverdell voted for a Republican Budget Resolution that would have cut federal funding for education by 33%, including a $30 billion cut in aid to college students. The cut in funding for education would have been used to pay for tax cuts. In addition, Coverdell voted against an amendment to the resolution that would have restored $40 billion in education funds by reducing the size of some proposed tax breaks. “Unlike his paid advertising, Coverdell’s voting record clearly shows that he has done little to help improve education in Georgia and the nation,” stated Coles. “In fact, Coverdell has repeatedly voted against real initiatives to improve public education such as funding school construction, hiring new teachers, and safe and drug-free schools. Claiming such accomplishments when the record shows that Coverdell has done just the opposite is not only completely unfounded and false, it is shameful.” # # # |
