[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 24, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S7013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Daschle, 
        Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Levin, Mr. Robb, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Lautenberg, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
        Torricelli, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Glenn, Mr. 
        Bingaman and Ms. Mikulski):
  S. 2209. A bill to reduce class size in the early grades and to 
provide for teacher quality improvement; to the Committee on Labor and 
Human Resources.


          Class-Size Reduction and Teacher quality Act of 1998

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today I send to the desk legislation to 
help school districts hire 100,000 well-prepared teachers to combat 
overcrowding in our nation's classrooms. Few issues are more important 
to the American family than the quality of our public schools. With 
challenges like illiteracy, poor work and study skills, and the threat 
of student violence, what we need are strategies that work to produce 
results for all students. Increasing the number of well-qualified 
teachers to reduce class size is an effort that works.
  The research is clear, and the research only backs up what our school 
communities have long known, that class size reduction improves student 
achievement. Unlike vouchers and tax schemes that don't provide the 
benefits for schools or students that they claim--class size reduction 
works, and it benefits all students.
  Public education is important to the American people, and has been 
since the beginning of our nation. The public school is one of the most 
effective self-betterment tools in the history of this country.
  But this bastion of democracy is threatened when public expectation 
changes, and the public school is not allowed to follow the public 
will. There was a time not long ago when people with a high school 
diploma or people who had not graduated from high school could still 
participate meaningfully in our economy. Those times have changed.
  Americans expect public schools to educate all students to a higher 
standard, and expect a high school diploma to be accurate assurance 
that a graduate knows and can do what it takes to succeed in higher 
education and in today's economy. Most teachers in most classrooms do a 
good job--and some are clearly gifted.
  But many teachers, excellent in other ways, lack the training, 
preparation, and know-how to teach reading in ways that reflect the 
best research. Many otherwise skilled teachers need help to teach 
today's skills with today's technology. And any teacher has a difficult 
time getting youngsters ready for today's world when there are more 
than 30 children in a classroom.
  So the class size reduction bill I'm introducing today puts the funds 
in the hands of local school districts to train teachers in effective 
practices, to get uncertified teachers up to certification standards, 
to provide mentor teachers for teachers who need it, and to improve 
teacher recruiting.
  Improving class size is an investment in our future that we know will 
pay dividends. This proposal is still building momentum in Congress. 
Twice now, this class size proposal has been voted on this year, and 
the last time it was one vote away from passage. The public is aware 
that efforts such as the Coverdell IRA proposal do not provide results 
even for the few students they are targeted to help. Ask any parent or 
student, and they'll tell you class size reduction works for all 
students.
  The President had originally talked about funding class size 
reduction with tobacco revenues, but class size improvement was left 
out of the bill that left the Commerce Committee.
  With or without a tobacco bill, we can pass the class size 
improvement initiative and keep a balanced budget. In the President's 
budget request, there are still more than $20 billion in mandatory and 
tax offsets we have not yet used. There are several ways to fund a 
class size initiative, keep a balanced budget, and provide in one 
action real results for all students.
  Also, as I've mentioned before, this really is an issue of 
priorities. Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee took a meat 
cleaver to social programs, such as elimination of the summer jobs for 
teenagers, and winter heating assistance for elderly people in harsh 
winter climates. This year, thanks to the tough decisions I and others 
here made in 1993 and other factors, we are looking at a balanced 
budget.
  Now more than ever, the American people priorities are what matter, 
and they must be reflected in our funding decisions. These are their 
federal tax dollars we are investing, and education is a much higher 
priority to most Americans than the two percent of spending it 
currently holds.
  We have been sending out and continue to send funds to communities so 
they can hire 100,000 police officers. The communities which have hired 
these officers have responded with enthusiasm. Allowing school 
districts to hire 100,000 teachers to school districts will do the same 
thing--invigorate both the local school district they affect, and the 
state governments who can fund class size improvement on a greater 
scale.
  The American people want their national investments to be common 
sense solutions that work. They want to see national initiatives jump-
start real improvements in their local school. They want better 
teachers, and smaller class sizes. They want to know that when their 
child goes to school next fall, they are going to get good answers to 
their perennial questions: ``Who's your teacher, and how many kids are 
in your class?''
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