[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 117 (Monday, September 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H6967]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EDUCATION IS A COMMONSENSE MATTER

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, what is the secret to getting a great 
education? Brandnew classrooms, the latest computers, a teaching staff 
trained in the latest pedagogical methods, record spending on school 
budgets? Of course not. Common sense alone suggests that a great 
education is a product of the same ingredients that has made for a 
great education for centuries: motivated students, parents who care 
about their children's schooling, and teachers with energy and 
dedication.
  What Federal program conceived in Washington, DC, can produce 
motivated students? What Federal program can make parents care about 
their children's schooling? What Federal program can produce teachers 
with energy and dedication?
  Mr. Speaker, this is truly puzzling for me, that so many people with 
Ph.D.'s right here in this community in education and journalists with 
equally impressive credentials tend to forget these commonsense facts 
so often when it comes to education. It is time to get back to basics. 
It is time that Washington encouraged them to do it now, and not 
tomorrow.

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