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NNPA to Honor Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) for Contributions in Education

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “If we are going to prepare our country’s youth for their future properly, we must ensure that we are giving them the fundamental tools necessary to grow into skillful and productive members of the workforce, starting from the beginning of childhood,” Rep. Scott said in a recent interview with NNPA Newswire.

Published

6 years ago

September 11, 2019

Oakland Post

"The first thing we have to do is focus on the issues. We can't spend all of our time talking about [the scandals] and not talking about equity in education," said Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA).

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Virginia Democratic Congressman Bobby Scott has always advocated for a fair and equitable education for all students.

When he helped spearhead the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Scott had civil rights in mind. ESSA replaced the No Child Left Behind law, which amplified the federal government’s role in U.S. classrooms. No Child Left Behind launched a national system that judged schools based on math and reading test scores and required them to raise scores every year or face escalating penalties.

“Fifty years ago, Congress originally passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to help make that right a reality,” said Scott, the chair of the Committee on Education and Labor. “The Every Student Succeeds Act honors the civil rights legacy of that law,” he said.

Similar to ESSA, No Child Left Behind was crafted and passed with strong bipartisan support. However, over time, its testing-centric accountability structure became widely seen as overly punitive.

Despite the Trump administration’s callousness toward a fair and equal education for all regardless of their race or background. Scott has remained vigilant about ESSA and education’s role in transforming communities.

In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) will present him with the 2019 NNPA National Leadership Award for his outstanding contributions and courageous leadership in the field of education.

The ceremony will take place on September 12^th at the Renaissance DC Downtown Hotel in Washington, DC at 7 p.m. In addition to Representative Scott, the NNPA will recognize seven other dynamic leaders over the course of the evening.

The 2019 honorees are the Honorable Karen Bass, U.S. Representative (D-CA); the Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, U.S. Representative (D-MD); the Honorable Bobby Scott, U.S. Representative (D-VA); the Honorable Bennie Thompson, U.S. Representative (D-MS); Ray Curry, Secretary-Treasurer of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agriculture (UAW); Shani W. Hosten, Vice President Multicultural Leadership, AARP; Dr. Kim Smith-Whitley, Clinical Director of Hematology and Director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); and Crystal Windham, Director, Cadillac Interior Design, General Motors.

The NNPA’s National Leadership Awards are an annual event that coincides with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference. This year, the National Leadership Awards are supported by NNPA’s corporate partners and sponsors, including General Motors; RAI Services Company; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Pfizer, Inc.

NNPA’s corporate sponsors include Toyota; Ford Motor Co., AARP; Northrop Grumman; Wells Fargo; Volkswagen; UAW; API; Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts; Comcast NBC Universal; U.S. Census; CBCF Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Koch Industries; Ascension; and AmeriHealth.

A U.S. Army Veteran, Scott was born in Washington, DC in 1947.

He has represented Virginia’s third congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993.

Before Congress, Scott served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1978 to 1983 and in Virginia’s State Senate from 1983 to 1993.

During his tenure in the Virginia General Assembly, Scott successfully sponsored laws critical to Virginians in education, employment, health care, social services, economic development, crime prevention, and consumer protection.

His legislative successes in the state legislature included laws that increased Virginia’s minimum wage.

Scott created the Governor’s Employment and Training Council and improved health care benefits for women, infants, and children.

In Congress, as part of his efforts to provide universal health care, Scott sought to ensure that millions of uninsured children have access to comprehensive health care services.

The congressman has the distinction of being the first African American elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia since Reconstruction and only the second African American from elected to Congress by Virginians in state’s history.

Having a maternal grandfather of Filipino ancestry also gives him the distinction of being the first American with Filipino ancestry to serve as a voting member of Congress.

Throughout his service, Scott has championed early childhood education.

He’s often cited research that shows early childhood education during a child’s formative years as being critical to brain development.

“Participating in high-quality early childhood education is critical for children,” Scott said. “Doing so lessens the chances they will be involved in the criminal justice system, violence, or illegal drugs,” he said.

Scott is the lead sponsor of the Child Care for Working Families Act.

The measure is a comprehensive early learning and childcare bill that ensures affordable and high-quality childcare for working-class families and those living paycheck to paycheck.

“If we are going to prepare our country’s youth for their future properly, we must ensure that we are giving them the fundamental tools necessary to grow into skillful and productive members of the workforce, starting from the beginning of childhood,” Scott said in a recent interview with NNPA Newswire.

Earlier this year, Scott’s committee voted in favor of the Rebuild America’s School Act, a bill that would provide about $100 billion for school infrastructure.

Scott and his colleagues also advanced the Paycheck Fairness Act, which toughens penalties that businesses face for gender-pay disparities.

“The first thing we have to do is focus on the issues. We can’t spend all of our time talking about [the scandals] and not talking about equity in education,” Scott said.

“In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be able to succeed in life if denied an opportunity of an education; that such an opportunity is a right that must be equal for all,” he said.

The bill seeks to help minority students overcome some of the many disadvantages they face.

Much of which was spelled out in a 2019 report that revealed white school districts receive $23 billion more in funding than non-white districts despite serving the same number of students.

Because the school system relies so heavily on community wealth, the gap reflects both the prosperity divide in America and the fragmented nature of school district borders.

The system is designed to exclude outside students and protect internal advantage, according to the authors of the 2019 education report.

For every student enrolled, the average non-white school district receives $2,226 less than a white school district, the report revealed.

“After the 1954 Supreme Court ruling, we turned around and funded education with the real estate tax, guaranteeing that the wealthy areas will have more resources than low-income areas,” Scott said.

“Adam Clayton Powell spearheaded legislation in the 1960s that put more money into low-income areas. And, the Higher Education Act passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson, assured that no child would be turned away from college because he’s poor,” Scott said.

“Then there was the Pell Grant which assured that a child could go to any college and not incur that much debt. You can have equity in K-12, but you’ve got to have Head Start … and we have to make sure that legacy continues,” he said.

Scott said public schools in the U.S. are at a critical breaking point and noted that one estimate found that school infrastructure is shortchanged by $46 billion every year.

The Paycheck Fairness Act removes many of the legal defenses that businesses use to claim that they aren’t discriminating.

It makes it unlawful for businesses to inquire about a worker’s wage history or use it as a hiring factor if they know, among other provisions.

“Even when wage discrimination is discovered, workplace rules that restrict information about wages and pay raises often keep working women from holding employers accountable for discrimination,” Scott said.

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#NNPA BlackPress

Fighting to Keep Blackness

BlackPressUSA NEWSWIRE — Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 7, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

As this nation observes the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, the words of President Trump reverberate. “This country will be WOKE no longer”, an emboldened Trump offered during his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Since then, Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter this morning that “Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have ordered GSA to sell off the site of the historic Freedom Riders Museum in Montgomery.” Her post of little words went on to say, “This is outrageous and we will not let it stand! I am demanding an immediate reversal. Our civil rights history is not for sale!” DOGE trying to sell Freedom Rider Museum

Also, in the news today, the Associated Press is reporting they have a file of names and descriptions of more than 26,000 military images flagged for removal because of connections to women, minorities, culture, or DEI. In more attempts to downplay Blackness, a word that is interchanged with woke, Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C. Mayor Morial Bowser is allowing the name change to keep millions of federal dollars flowing there. Black Lives Matter Plaza was named in 2020 after a tense exchange between President Trump and George Floyd protesters in front of the White House. There are more reports about cuts to equity initiatives that impact HBCU students. Programs that recruited top HBCU students into the military and the pipeline for Department of Defense contracts have been canceled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back against this second-term Trump administration’s anti-DEI and Anti-woke message. In the wake of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, several Congressional Black Caucus leaders are reintroducing the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn and Alabama Congresswoman Terry Sewell are sponsoring H.R. 14, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Six decades ago, Lewis was hit with a billy club by police as he marched for the right to vote for African Americans. The right for Black people to vote became law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has since been gutted, leaving the nation to vote without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Reflecting on the late Congressman Lewis, March 1, 2020, a few months before his death, Lewis said, “We need more than ever in these times many more someones to make good trouble- to make their own dent in the wall of injustice.”

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Rep. Al Green is Censured by The U.S. House After Protesting Trump on Medicaid

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

In one of the quickest punishments of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the modern era, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by a 224-198 vote today in the House. His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question. Of the last three censures of members of the U.S. House, two have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus under GOP control. In 2023, Rep. Jamal Bowman was censured.

On the night of March 4, as President Trump delivered a Joint Address to Congress, Rep. Green interrupted him twice. Rep. Green shouted, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare, and you need to raise the cap on social security,” to President Trump. In another rare event, Rep. Green was escorted off the House floor by security shortly after yelling at the President by order of GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson. Over the last four years, members of Congress have yelled at President Biden during the State of the Union. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene was joined by Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) in 2022 in yelling at President Biden. In 2023, Rep. Greene, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) yelled at Biden, interrupting his speech. In 2024, wearing a red MAGA hat, a violation of the rules of the U.S. House, Greene interrupted Biden again. She was never censured for her behavior. Rep. Green voted “present” on his censure and was joined by freshman Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures of Alabama who also voted “present”.

All other members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against censuring Green. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage in the U.S. House after the death of Texas Democrat and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner yesterday. Ten Democrats voted along with Republicans to censure Rep. Green, including Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is in the leadership as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I respect them but, I would do it again,” and “it is a matter of conscience,” Rep. Green told Black Press USA’s April Ryan in an exclusive interview on March 5. After the vote, a group of Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well at the front of the House chamber. Several Republican members attempted to shout down the singing. House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled the House out of session and into a recess. During the brief recess members moved back to their seats and out of the well of the House. Shortly after the vote to censor Rep. Green, Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee quickly filed legislation to punish members who participated in the singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Earlier this year, Rep. Ogles filed legislation to allow President Donald Trump to serve a third term, which is currently unconstitutional. As the debate started, the stock market dove down over one-point hours from close. The jobs report will be made public tomorrow.

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Trump Moves to Dismantle Education Department

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The Trump administration is preparing to issue an executive order directing newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education. While the president lacks the authority to unilaterally shut down the agency—requiring congressional approval—McMahon has been tasked with taking “all necessary steps” to reduce its role “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The administration justifies the move by claiming the department has spent over $1 trillion since its 1979 founding without improving student achievement. However, data from The Nation’s Report Card shows math scores have improved significantly since the 1990s, though reading levels have remained stagnant. The pandemic further widened achievement gaps, leaving many students behind.

The Education Department provides about 10% of public-school funding, primarily targeting low-income students, rural districts, and children with disabilities. A recent Data for Progress poll found that 61% of voters oppose Trump’s efforts to abolish the agency, while just 34% support it. In Washington, D.C., where student proficiency rates remain low—22% in math and 34% in English—federal funding is crucial. Serenity Brooker, an elementary education major, warned that cutting the department would worsen conditions in underfunded schools.

“D.C. testing scores aren’t very high right now, so cutting the Department of Education isn’t going to help that at all,” she told Hilltop News. A report from the Education Trust found that low-income schools in D.C. receive $2,200 less per student than wealthier districts, leading to shortages in essential classroom materials. The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

The Office for Civil Rights also plays a key role in enforcing laws that protect students from discrimination. Moving it to the Department of Justice, as proposed in Project 2025, would make it harder for families to file complaints, leaving vulnerable students with fewer protections. Federal student aid programs, including Pell Grants and loan repayment plans, could face disruption if the department is dismantled. Experts warn this could worsen the student debt crisis, pushing more borrowers into default. “With funding cuts, they don’t have the materials they need, like books or things to help with math,” Brooker said. “It makes learning less fun for them.”