[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1773-E1774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 1997

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2264) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Goodling 
amendment. While I believe that we should have national standards and 
expectations for all of our students, I do not believe these national 
tests will help us achieve that goal.
  We cannot establish nationwide standards for our students if we fail 
to include all students in these national tests.
  The fact is that too many students will be unable to participate in 
the President's proposed reading and math tests.
  While I commend the administration's efforts to improve public 
education, I remained concerned that the proposed reading test will 
exclude too many children from the educational opportunity they 
deserve.
  Limited English proficient students make up a significant percentage 
of kids in our Nation's classrooms. Unfortunately, the administration 
will not adequately accommodate the participation of these students.
  We have tried to attain a compromise for LEP students, but the 
administration has failed to offer a comparable solution.
  The administration says that it wants accountability from our 
schools. But who will account for the progress of children who cannot 
take these tests?
  I believe that many more school districts will be affected than 
people realize.
  Orange County, CA, for example, has long been considered an affluent, 
homogeneous area. My hometown, however, has rapidly changed over the 
years. The truth is, Orange County is now more diverse than ever, with 
many new Americans calling it home.
  And Orange County schools have changed along with our demographics.
  Currently, 30 percent of all Orange County students are limited 
English proficient. My congressional district is one of the better 
examples of how these tests cannot adequately assess all public schools 
and their kids.
  Two out of four school districts in my congressional district will 
have over half of their students excluded from the reading test because 
of their large number of limited English proficient students.

[[Page E1774]]

  Santa Ana Unified School District has 70 percent of its students 
classified as LEP, the sixth highest in the Nation. Garden Grove 
Unified School District has 43 percent of its students qualifying as 
limited English proficient, 11th highest in the Nation.
  These are children from all over the world, Vietnamese children, 
Korean children, Hispanic children, and Romanian children who all want 
to learn and who all want high standards.
  But we have no plan for what we will do with these children or how we 
will utilize the test results.
  Of course, we need to have our students on track. But until we have a 
better idea of how these test results will be used, and how we can 
include the great many children who are still learning English, then I 
cannot be supportive of these national tests.
  Please vote for the Goodling amendment.

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