[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WAKE UP CALL ON EDUCATION

  (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, in the most recent international education 
survey conducted on U.S. high school seniors, U.S. ranks near the 
bottom in math and science. The math category alone, our students 
ranked 21st out of 23 countries.
  My purpose this morning is not to shame the American youth nor blame 
our hard working teachers in this country, but rather to give a wake-up 
call to my colleagues.
  For too long our liberal, but well-intended, colleagues have 
squandered billions of Federal education dollars on national testing 
and bloated Washington bureaucracy. It is high time they stop wasting 
money and start directing more money and more control to our parents, 
teachers, and communities.
  Let us face it, parents and teachers are the people who know our kids 
the best. I have a 10-year-old son in Nevada's public school system. I 
would much rather have the parents and teachers and school officials in 
Reno, Nevada, decide what is best for my son's education rather than 
some know-it-all Washington bureaucrat.
  Please, for the sake of our children, let us get America's education 
system on track by keeping big government out of our school systems.

                          ____________________