[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10804-H10805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CONGRESS SHOULD FOCUS ON EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to urge the leadership 
of the House to focus on education before we leave this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, we have important duties to do in order for us to be 
able to be partners with our local communities, with parents, community 
schools with the State governments, to make sure that our children have 
the resources and the skills that they need when they graduate so that 
they can be successful in this new world economy.
  We know that we need higher standards and lower classroom sizes. And, 
in fact, we have the opportunity in the next few days to be able to 
help contribute to making that happen. I am extremely concerned about 
the efforts now that appear to be moving in exactly the opposite 
direction from where we should be as it relates to education.
  As someone who has worked for a number of years and spent a lot of 
time in this Congress focusing on technology, I am very concerned that 
we are not moving ahead to modernize our schools, provide the 
construction funds, and provide the technology dollars that are needed 
to prepare our children so that they will be able to have the skills 
that they need to be successful.
  It does not matter if I am talking to the business community in my 
district or if I am talking to a PTO or if I am talking to a 
neighborhood organization, always I hear from people that we need to be 
focused on increasing our skills, our math and science skills, be able 
to provide the tools to children in the classroom so that in fact they 
have what they need to be successful. Employers know that. We know 
that, just as we listen to people in the community. And yet we do not 
see the actions coming from this Congress that will support those kinds 
of things happening in the community.
  Let us make a commitment this evening that we are going to make a 
commitment to our children, we are going to make a commitment to 
parents, to communities, that we are going to do what is necessary to 
provide resources in partnership with our local schools and with the 
State governments to make sure that our children have what they need.
  We need to make sure that when a young person is in a classroom 
today, they have access to the technology they need, to the 
information, to the world that is available now through the Internet 
and to allow them to be able to truly receive the kinds of skills that 
they need in smaller classes and with higher standards so that they can 
be prepared.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
McCarthy).
  (Mrs. McCARTHY of New York asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, in the last 2 years, I have 
spent an awful lot of time in my schools in my district. After the 
first month, I decided to do a survey just to look at all my schools 
that needed help and repair.
  I come from a middle-income suburban area, and I have to say that I 
was totally shocked at what I found. What hurt even more is when the 
survey came in, all of my schools needed some sort of help as far as 
repair. They have put it off constantly over the years.
  I have one school in Hempstead that to this day, I went back just a 
week ago to look at it again, because I could not believe my eyes every 
time I go into there. They have a boiler from 1908. They cannot find 
anyone to repair it anymore, and yet they do not have the money to do 
this. They have open classrooms. This school was built way before World 
War II, and here we have our children in open classrooms. Kids with 
learning disabilities in the hallways. Children with hearing problems 
not having the right facilities.
  As someone who grew up with learning disabilities, I certainly know 
how important it is to have a secluded quiet area. Technology has to 
come into the school. We are nowhere near it.
  So what we can do? Certainly, I agree with the President's 
initiatives to bring our schools up to where they should be today. What 
concerns me the most is we know we need school construction to give a 
safe environment for our children. But also more importantly, we need 
to send a message to our children that we care about them. Also sending 
a message to our teachers.
  Mr. Speaker, going back, I have met so many teachers over the last 2 
years. These are teachers that care very much. But when we have the 
classrooms so large and we have kids coming in in an environment which 
I consider not safe, not sound, we have to do all we can.
  I came to Congress to reduce gun violence in this country, and as 
soon as I got here, education became my number one issue. If we start 
working with these young people, have smaller classes, give them hope, 
give them a good education, we are not going to see drugs in the 
school, we are not going to see violence in the school. Is that not the 
goal of all of us here?
  I certainly support the initiative that we have to do with the 
President, and hopefully we will see it pass before we go home.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that if we expand educational opportunities to 
all Americans, especially young people, we can reduce crime, drug use 
and gun violence in our society.
  I do not believe that education is a partisan issue. But I am very 
concerned that partisanship in these last days of the session may 
prevent us from improving the education system. We have a golden 
opportunity to help young

[[Page H10805]]

people reach their fullest potential. And we cannot let it slip away.
  Because education is so important to my constituents and to me, I 
sought and received an assignment on the Education and Workforce 
Committee when I arrived in Congress. And I spend every Monday and 
Friday in the schools on Long Island, talking with students, teachers, 
principals, superintendents, and parents about how we can make the 
education system work better.
  One of the things I hear time and again is the importance of a well-
prepared teacher in every classroom. Sadly, some people like to blame 
teachers for all the problems in education. But that is not the answer. 
The reason I know this, is because I have seen many great teachers in 
action.
  Last year, our Committee invited a number of young teachers who had 
graduated two to three years earlier to testify. And they told us, ``We 
love our jobs. We love to teach. We do our best.'' But they also told 
us that once they graduated, they weren't ready to deal with all the 
pressures in the classroom. They said they needed more support, more 
mentoring.
  So last year, I introduced the America's Teacher Preparation 
Improvement Act. This bill will strengthen the federal government's 
commitment to teacher preparation. It focuses on three critical areas--
recruiting new teachers, making sure they are well-prepared while in 
school, and then supporting them in their first years on the job. It 
also encourages colleges to set up partnerships with school districts 
so that teachers can move from the lecture hall to the classroom.
  I am pleased to say that in a bipartisan vote, Congress approve the 
provisions of my bill as a part of the Higher Education Act 
reauthorization, and the President signed it into law last week.
  But there is more to do. The number of kids enrolled in school is 
growing, and many current teachers are getting ready to retire. We will 
need 2 million new teachers in the next decade alone just to handle the 
load. But fewer people are entering the profession, and grade schools 
in many parts of the country are facing severe teacher shortages.
  Improving how we prepare our teachers won't help students if there 
aren't new teachers to prepare. That is why it is so important that we 
approve the President's plan to fund 100,000 new teachers. If we are 
serious about education, then we must ensure that we have a dedicated 
corps of new teachers ready to enter the classroom.
  Just as our students need well-prepared teachers, they deserve school 
buildings that are conducive to learning. I have seen first-hand that 
many schools are overcrowded or in poor condition. When I visited one 
school in my district, the Washington Rose School in Roosevelt, I was 
shocked to see kids learning in hallways, surrounded by crumbling roofs 
and windows. Even worse was its library, which had makeshift shelves, 
few seats, and poor ventilation.
  What kind of message do we send kids about reading when we make them 
read in a room like that? And what message do we send to teachers when 
we ask them to educate children in overcrowded, run-down classrooms?
  These problems surprised me, because suburban areas like mine are not 
supposed to have overcrowded and run-down schools. But they do. Last 
Fall, I conducted a survey of the schools in my District, asking them 
about the physical condition of their schools. I learned that our 
schools do need financial support to repair and rebuild their 
buildings.
  That is why the President's initiative to provide tax incentives to 
fix school buildings is so important. And that is why I support the 
plan to reduce class sizes in the first through third grades. Again, if 
we are serious about education, then we should pass these initiatives.
  We all know what it will take to improve our education system: Well-
prepared teachers. New buildings. Less crowded classrooms. It's time 
that we show our young people that we are committed to their education, 
and to their future.

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