[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 150 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PARENTS NEED MORE CHOICE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  (Mr. ROGAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, the next time those opponents of parental 
choice in education on the other side argue that the Federal Government 
should be running our public schools instead of giving parents more 
local control, I hope that they will consider these recently released 
facts.
  Last year, new rigorous exams were given to 130,000 elementary school 
children. The performance results were dismal. Only 39 percent of 8th 
graders and 33 percent of 4th graders had any kind of basic 
understanding in reading and writing. New reports also show that 75 
percent of American college students are struggling with high school-
level math. One textbook expert said, ``There is no question that every 
time we adopt a textbook, the reading level of the book is lower than 
the last.''
  Yesterday, the Washington Times did an editorial that hit the nail 
directly on the head. They said that, ``Phonics is out, whole language 
is in, spelling primers and spelling bees are passe, invented spelling 
is the vogue. Self-esteem reigns supreme. The education establishment, 
the bureaucrats, and the unions still reject rigorous teaching of a 
rigorous curriculum in favor of the feel-good fuzziness that got us 
into this mess in the first place.''
  Mr. Speaker, we will never correct this deficiency until parents, and 
not Washington bureaucrats, have the say in the education of our 
precious children.

                          ____________________