[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 12, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HIGH SCHOOL IS TOO EASY

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, a headline in yesterday's Washington Post 
provided a sad commentary on the state of our educational system. The 
headline read: ``Teens Tell Researchers High School Is Too Easy.''
  The article revealed the findings of a recent study by the nonprofit 
group Public Agenda, and it was entitled, and I quote, ``Getting By.'' 
The survey of 1,300 high school students found that most students think 
their classes are not challenging enough, often lack exemplary 
teachers, and are filled with too many disruptive students.
  We all know there are no easy answers to the ills that plague our 
Nation's schools, but here are some obvious first steps that we can 
take to address the feelings expressed by students in the survey: 
getting back to basics, setting rigorous standards for students and 
teachers, and returning discipline to the classroom.
  These may sound like old-fashioned techniques but, according to this 
survey, a new generation of students would welcome these old ideas.
  What we ought to be doing, instead of spending 9 hours in debating 
term limits today, is I call on the Republican leadership to please let 
us get to what the people want to talk about, and that is education, 
the affordability of it, the standards that exist in our classrooms. 
Let us put the Nation's business first before politics.

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