Cleaver; Cutting food benefits for children, elderly, working families not right

Earlier today, the Turner Report ran a section of Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver's EC from DC report praising the late Ike Skelton, In another part of his report, Cleaver addresses cuts to the SNAP program.

Cutting benefits for food to children, the elderly, and working families is not right. It's just not right. But that is exactly what Congress has decided to do. 

This week I joined several colleagues and representatives from anti-hunger groups, including the Food Research Action Center and Share Our Strength, to denounce these across-the-board cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They will impact thousands of Americans -- many in Missouri's Fifth District. 

As you may know, I grew up in a house with three sisters, no running water or bathrooms, and feasting on meals that I now realize were not really meals at all. Nutrition is critical for a child's development. The lack of nutrition from my youth has, I believe, contributed to multiple operations I have had over the years. I resent those who deny nutrition to children who rely on SNAP benefits. 

The Recovery Act in 2009 included a 13.6% increase to the SNAP program, raising benefits for all participating households during the recession. It was necessary then -- and now. According to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the cut will result in a reduction equaling about $36 a month for a family of four. That may not sound like a lot, but those using the benefits will tell you -- it is. 

The cut means $5 billion less in SNAP benefits that would help feed American families in the 2014 fiscal year alone. This is a serious loss for families whose benefits will now average less than $1.40 a person per meal. 22 million children and 9 million people who are elderly or have a serious disability are included in these cuts. 

That is why I have joined Reps. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan) and Barbara Lee (D-California), in cosponsoring the "Extend Not Cut SNAP Benefits Act". It is a one-year extension of the 13% benefit increase. These benefits are not a hand out for people who don't want to work and aren't trying, despite the myths and outright untruths some are spreading. SNAP benefits are the critical bridge during difficult economic times that help safeguard families from facing hunger. SNAP helps put food on the table for struggling families, supports farmers with product purchase, and stimulates economic growth. For every $1 increase in SNAP benefits, $1.70 is generated in economic activity. In 2011, SNAP lifted 4.7 million Americans above the poverty line, including 2.1 million children. 

Cutting SNAP benefits at this point in time, from kids, from the disabled, from the elderly is not the right way to go. It doesn't make economic sense -- and it doesn't make soul sense.

Missouri math, science students score above average in international competition

(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)

A comparison of eighth-grade student test scores from the U. S. and international educational systems shows Missouri students ranking above average in math and science, according to the results of a new study by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). Results from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were used as a basis for the study.

Missouri eighth graders scored 512 in math, above the average TIMSS score of 500. The students scored 537 in science, above the TIMSS average and the U.S. average of 522.

Scores are reported in four categories: low, intermediate, high and advanced. In math testing, 31 percent of Missouri students scored at the high and advanced levels. The scores for science showed 45 percent of eighth graders at high and advanced levels. 

NCES initiated this special study in an effort to link the NAEP scale to the TIMSS scale so that states could compare the performance of their students with that of students in other countries. Missouri placed in the mid-range of participating states and nations.

Scoring was based on NAEP results for 2011, which were used to predict performance on TIMSS testing. Three statistical methods were applied in linking the NAEP and TIMSS scales and showed the predictions to be accurate. TIMSS also performed random testing in nine states to validate predictions. Missouri was not selected as one of the nine states.

Differences between the NAEP and TIMSS administrations, assessment contents and program policies could contribute to the sources of error around predicted TIMSS scores. While predicted TIMSS scores should not be interpreted as actual scores, they provide states with a framework for global comparison.

NAEP is just one of the measures Missouri uses in its Top 10 by 20 initiative, which calls for Missouri to rank in the top 10 states for education by 2020 and help students graduate ready for college and career.

More information on the study is available at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/mathematics/ 

or http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/science/. State comparisons can be found athttp://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/naep_timss.

First signing for Scars from the Tornado set for Dec. 7 at Vintage Stock

It certainly has taken long enough, but the first signing for Scars from the Tornado: One Year at Joplin East Middle School has been set for 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, December 7, at Vintage Stock on the Mall.

With all of the controversy that surrounded the book earlier this year, I had delayed having the signing though the book was published in March.

Scars features stories that I wrote about my experiences during our first year in the warehouse school, as well as stories and poems written by my students.

I will be contacting people who contributed to the book, so that they can have the experience of being involved in a book signing, something that should have happened months ago.

Copies of 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado, Spirit of Hope, and No Child Left Alive will also be available.

I will have more information in later posts. Hope to see you there!

Martin: Kinder decision not to run shows party loyalty

(From the Missouri Republican Party)

Missouri Republican Party Chairman Ed Martin issued the following statement regarding Lt. Governor Peter Kinder’s decision not to run for Congress in Missouri’s Eighth Congressional District.

“Peter Kinder is a good man and a great statesman for Missouri. The leadership shown by his decision not to seek the Republican nomination in the Eighth District is a reminder of his dedication to party unity and growth through 2014 and beyond. We will continue to see that dedication through his term as Lt. Governor.”

Cleaver: Saying goodbye to Ike Skelton

In his latest EC from DC report, Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver offers a tribute to his late colleague Ike Skelton.

How do you say goodbye to someone you love like a big brother? I know we have all lost loved ones. We have all suffered pain. And now, our state, and indeed, our entire country, join together to say goodbye to our dear friend - Congressman Ike Skelton. Ike's 'resume' is well-known. But what we, here in Missouri, know about our friend goes far beyond that.

He was born in Lexington and attended Wentworth Military Academy. He was a lawyer, prosecuting attorney, and a state attorney general. He was a member of the Missouri state senate and served sixteen terms in Congress as a United States Representative. He was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and as so, was one of the most influential human beings, not only in this country, but in the world. He was the most revered Member of Congress by the military of the United States of America. Yet, any Member of Congress, from either side of the aisle, could stop him and hold a conversation. He never lost the common touch. But that doesn't capture who Ike Skelton was.

Ike was a man of humility. He was kind, loving, and strong. His strength came in the form of great gentleness. He was approachable to everyone and remained a dignified public servant throughout his life. Last year I participated in the unveiling ceremony of his portrait, which is now hanging in the House Armed Services Committee. Hundreds came to recognize this fine man and to honor him. Portrait unveilings don't happen very often on Capitol Hill, and this was one to remember.

How could Missouri ever forget? He brought us military bases, jobs, and worldwide respect. He fought for what he believed in but he did so without attacking. He knew the difference between people and peoples' ideas. He knew disagreeing with a person's idea or belief did not mean disliking the person who held it. He always looked for ways to make life a little better for others. On more than one occasion he gave up time with his own family to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with troops overseas. He was a man among men. 

It will be difficult to roam the halls of Congress and not see Ike Skelton. Or to come into the House Chamber and not look at the seat where he usually sat and where the Missouri delegation would, from time to time, gather around him. I have said to him and to others in his presence, that this man had the ability to walk with kings and Presidents, yet not lose the common touch. Whether it was his service to others, his personal friendship, or a combination of both, Ike Skelton will not be forgotten. He was special. He was rare. And people like Ike don't come around that often. I was on the floor of the House when I found out he had passed away. I knew he had been sick, but his death was certainly unexpected. 

I will always remember - and miss - my mentor and my friend, Ike Skelton. I led a moment of silence on the House Floor in memory of Ike. There were tears around the room. A room that sometimes feels so cold. For indeed, the world is a bit colder now that Ike has passed away. I have performed weddings and funerals for Ike Skelton and his family. And I will be searching for words as I speak at his. He traveled the world and knew the powerful on a first name basis. But what Ike loved most -- was coming home to Missouri. The man from Lexington had a long life and an even longer list of accomplishments. Good works that will be recorded by historians for many years to come. Now we must prepare to say goodbye to our friend, Ike Skelton, who has now gone home for good.

Common Core guidelines: "Hunger Games" more complex than "Grapes of Wrath"

The New Republic has an article which examines Lexile scores, which have been adopted as part of Common Core to establish reading levels for students.

Under that system, as you can tell from the headline, Hunger Games is more complex than John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Of the following four books, guess which one is the only one complex enough for a ninth grader:

Huckleberry Finn

Jane Eyre

Sports Illustrated for Kids' Awesome Athletes

To Kill a Mockingbird

My guess is you already know the answer, but the article is well worth reading.

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Audio- Besendorfer three days after tornado- Funnel clouds have silver linings

Less than three days after the Joplin Tornado, at least one Joplin R-8 administrator was already to spend millions of dollars to make her ideal school a reality.

An audio recording of a May 25, 2011, meeting at what is now the Joplin High School 9-10 Center obtained by the Turner Report and Inside Joplin shows that Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer was already prepared to spend the $1 million plus needed to buy laptops for every Joplin High School student, though this was weeks before the United Arab Emirates made its $500,000 pledge, with a promise to make it one million once the district was able to match the pledge.

"Let's do the 1 to 1," Besendorfer told teachers who had come to the building for an update about their school district and their jobs.

Whatever you want, Besendorfer told those who were jam packed into the room (two meetings had to be held that afternoon), you will be able to get because of the tornado.

It was at that point where the assistant superintendent used an early version of the phrase she has continued to use since that time.

The district was able to find "lots of silver linings," she said. "tornado clouds, funnel clouds have silver linings."

Though the teachers and students might find themselves in buildings that are not ideal since theirs were destroyed by the tornado, Besendorfer said, "while we build the ideal school."

Besendorfer's statement came approximately 68 hours after 161 people had been killed by the EF-5 tornado, the most devastating tornado to hit the United States in six decades. It was made at a meeting where a number of the teachers (including this one) were hunched over their laptops trying to locate students through Facebook to make sure they and their families were all right.

The statement came only a few moments after Besendorfer told teachers to make sure to notify the administration about any funerals that were to take place.