[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 144 (Monday, October 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10645-H10646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, in time, the American people will grade 
this Congress on its performance toward improving education. Teachers, 
parents and even students will examine what this Congress has or has 
not done to make our educational systems better. Sadly, I must report 
that, as of tonight, this Congress is failing.
  Why is this Congress failing, you might ask? This Congress is failing 
because we have done nothing to decrease class sizes or to repair 
deteriorating school buildings.
  Schools across the Nation are struggling because student enrollments 
are dramatically increasing. Evidence shows that there is a direct 
correlation between class size and learning ability. Students in 
smaller classes, especially in early grades, make greater educational 
gains, and maintain those gains over time. Smaller classes are most 
advantageous for poor, minority, and rural community children. However, 
all children will benefit from smaller classes. In addition, the 
greatest impact on learning will only occur if the new teachers brought 
into the classroom are qualified teachers.
  In these final days, Congress still has a chance to correct this 
deficiency and improve its grade. The Class-Size Reduction and Teacher 
Quality Act of 1998 can and should be passed before we leave for 
adjournment. We could even pass it in the Suspension Calendar.
  This bill would help States and local school districts recruit, 
train, and hire 100,000 additional well-prepared teachers in order to 
reduce the average class size to 18 in grades 1 through 3. Creating 
100,000 new positions for teachers is important in order to meet the 
increasing enrollments. The process will occur over the next ten years. 
The need for this legislation is paramount. America needs more 
teachers. More teachers is so critical to maintaining and improving our 
educational system.
  In addition to working to increase the number of teachers and reduce 
class sizes, we must also work, before we leave for adjournment, to 
facilitate the rehabilitation and construction of school buildings, 
many of which are in a critical state of disrepair. Too many of our 
students in grades kindergarten through twelve are in overcrowded 
classrooms, with poor curriculums, limited equipment and deteriorating 
schools. Because 90 percent of our children attend public schools, we 
must strengthen and improve those schools, particularly school 
structures.
  We have an all-time record school enrollment of 52.2 million students 
today. The strain on school systems and the impact on learning will be 
felt for years to come. Poor school buildings discourage learning, with 
leaky roofs, broken windows, peeling paint, inadequate heat in winter 
and poor cooling and ventilation in spring and summer.
  According to a 1996 Report by the General Accounting Office, some 
sixty percent of the Nation's schools are in disrepair. American 
students are falling further and further behind

[[Page H10646]]

many of their counterparts in countries around the world.
  There is a plan to repair our schools. Under this plan, federal tax 
credits would be used to help underwrite some $22 billion in bonds that 
would be used to build and renovate public schools.
  Mr. Speaker, we must make required reforms, improvement and 
sufficient investment to provide a quality education system where every 
child has a chance to learn, develop and contribute.
  If we do nothing before we adjourn, our children will ask, why 
Congress did you fail us?

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