[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2312-E2313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS KNOW BEST ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LINDSEY O. GRAHAM

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, November 9, 1997

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation today, the 
Parents and Teachers Know Best Act, that would send funds currently 
appropriated to the Goals 2000 Program directly to every local school 
district in the Nation with few strings attached.

[[Page E2313]]

  All Members of Congress care about our Nation's children. We all want 
to see America's education system work better, our children obtain the 
best education they can and succeed to the best of their abilities.
  But our debate over Federal policy is not about who cares more, but 
how to effectively improve education in America.
  Goals 2000 is a Federal program where the Department of Education 
administers and monitors national education standards. The 
establishment of this program was the beginning of the Clinton 
administration's strategy to substantially increase the role of the 
Federal Government in our local schools. It is the hallmark of the 
Clinton administration's attempt to transfer authority to run our 
country's schools from local communities to Washington.
  While this administration failed to nationalize our Nation's health 
care system, they are trying through a slow, step-by-step process to 
federalize our Nation's schools. For example, as part of this process, 
the Clinton administration and the Department of Education are 
continuing to pursue, without congressional authorization and in direct 
contravention of current law, their proposal for a system of national 
testing. These national tests will clearly and quickly lead to a 
national curriculum designed by favored interest groups and Federal 
bureaucrats.
  My legislation begins an effort to roll back the rising tide of 
nationalization and federalization. This bill will significantly reduce 
the Federal role in determining standards but will maintain the 
funding. It cuts the layers of bureaucracy and red tape that bog down 
our goal of improving our children's education. It requires money go 
directly to every school district in America with few strings attached.
  The Goals 2000 Program has done little, if anything, to improve the 
performance of America's students in the classroom. Indeed, by taking 
money that could best be used by a teacher in a classroom and giving it 
to a bureaucrat, this program has prevented local school districts from 
using their tax dollars to improve schools.
  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Federal 
spending for education was estimated to be $100.5 billion in fiscal 
year 1997, an increase of $37.7 billion, or 60 percent, since fiscal 
year 1990. Even after adjusting for inflation, Federal support for 
education increased 31 percent. We certainly have not seen a 31-percent 
improvement in our education system. We are spending enough money, but 
we are spending it in the wrong ways.
  My bill will abolish the increasingly intrusive role of the Federal 
Government in education and give educators at the local level the 
freedom they need to educate students in a way that meets the unique 
needs of their community. I believe decisions about education should be 
left up to local communities, principals, teachers and parents.
  Because of this growing Federal interference, State and local 
governments are spending too little money in the classroom, and too 
much money on bureaucracy. According to the Digest of Education 
Statistics, in 1993 only $141 billion out of $265 billion spent on 
elementary and secondary education was spent on instruction. The 
National Center for Education Statistics pointed out that in 1994 only 
52 percent of staff employed in public elementary and secondary school 
systems were teachers. These statistics clearly demonstrate the need to 
get more funding into the classroom.
  This legislation also promotes accountability in education. By giving 
the control of these funds to local school boards, parents can hold 
local leaders accountable. If parents are unsatisfied with the 
performance of their schools, they can vote their school board 
officials out of office. Parents can't vote a nameless, faceless 
Federal bureaucrat out of their office.
  Some have characterized Goals 2000 as a voluntary program. 
Supposedly, States can receive grant money from the program without any 
direction or coercion. To believe the Federal bureaucracy, whether 
overseen by a liberal or conservative administration, would not try to 
mandate and control education programs through national standards, or 
leave their imprint on how the money is spent is, at best, naive.
  Since the inception of the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, its 
budget has doubled to over $32 billion. Now, 50 percent of all mandates 
regarding how to educate children emanate from Washington. However, 
they only provide 6 percent of the money. Test scores remain low, 
dropout rates are stagnant, and, overall, the Nation's education system 
is lagging behind other industrialized countries.
  The Parents and Teachers Know Best Act will encourage parental 
involvement in education, as well as empower teachers and local school 
board officials to establish or continue education programs that meet 
the unique needs of their community.
  My goal is to put the money in the hands of those who know our 
children's names, those who know how to educate our children best--
parents, teachers and locally elected school board officials. At the 
end of the day, if we are not able to educate our children locally, 
then no amount of Washington benevolence will save us.

                          ____________________