[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 9, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SCHOOLCHILDREN SPENDING TOO MUCH PRECIOUS CLASS TIME TAKING 
                           NATIONALIZED TESTS

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, there they go again. The Clinton 
administration is again attempting to force nationalized tests upon our 
schoolchildren. Unfortunately the President believes that our students 
must spend more precious class time taking nationalized tests created 
by some bureaucrats in Washington who think they know what is best for 
our children.
  As a former teacher, instead of testing our children again, we should 
give them more time to do what they are supposed to do in school, 
learn. What a novel idea. For the last year and a half, a bipartisan 
majority of the House and Senate has expressed the will of the people 
and fought the administration on the creation of national tests. 
Congress has made it clear to the President that Americans do not want 
another standardized national test.
  Please call the Federal bureaucrats back to their desk and out of the 
classrooms. Let the parents, teachers and local schools decide how best 
to test and educate our children.
  Local control is still the best control.

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