[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10818-H10819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MORE ON EDUCATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I came to the floor tonight to 
talk about education and to first raise my disappointment with Congress 
being unable to provide funding for America's children in terms of 
education.
  However, I am hearing that perhaps an agreement has been made and 
that there will be funding available for some of the President's 
initiatives that he proposed back in January in the State of the Union 
address.
  What I have here tonight is a pamphlet that describes what matters 
most, Teaching for America's Future, that I provided to every Member of 
Congress at the top of the year. As the only Member who serves on the 
National Commission on Teaching in America's Future, I wanted Congress 
to recognize persons across this Nation, from governors to state 
superintendents to school superintendents, principals, educators, 
teachers and parents, coming together to talk about the importance of 
qualified teachers.
  This is why we embraced this, the President's initiative on 100,000 
new teachers to provide for our students. We must reform the 
methodology of teaching in which we have begun to do, and we must 
expand professional development for teachers. We can ill afford to have 
weakened professional development, thinking that this will make 
teachers more qualified.

                              {time}  2045

  Teachers need a more frequent involvement in professional 
development, and there needs to be a whole methodology of teaching 
whereby computer literacy will be part of this new methodology of 
teaching.
  After-school programs is another phase by which we need to embrace 
this initiative. If we are going to divert those 3 hours of mischievous 
time for students who come home to empty homes, latchkey children, we 
will then need to have after-school programs where this will be a 
positive setting for our students and our children whereby they can 
divert from the violence that has seemed to just permeate that block of 
time where children are not supervised.
  Smaller classrooms. We as former teachers and administrators 
recognize the importance of smaller classrooms, eighteen in a class, 
that is the best, more manageable classroom whereby students will get 
individualized training. We must ensure that qualified teaching and 
qualified learning be part of the structure of a reduced class size.
  School construction. There is no way that dilapidated schools where 
roofs are falling, wiring is seen outside of the plastic, plaster is 
falling from the ceiling, there is no way that is an environment that 
is conducive to learning.
  This Congress must make sure that the infrastructure of education 
become a priority just like the infrastructure in transportation became 
a priority in the T-21 bill. We must provide that infrastructure of 
education so that we

[[Page H10819]]

can build the bridges of learning for our students to cross over this 
bridge to the 21st Century like we are building infrastructures, roads, 
and bridges in our towns and in our cities.
  Yes, the President's initiative is one that we embrace, members and 
commissioners on the National Commission on Teaching and America's 
Future, a think tank that speaks to education, because we want to make 
sure that our children do have the quality of qualified teachers, 
reduce class sizes where there will be more individualized training, 
after-school programs where they can further this training and also 
enhance their knowledge, and, yes, school construction.
  Children must have an environment that is conducive to learning. Our 
children deserve no less, and our Nation has no recourse if we are to 
prepare our future leaders for this global workplace.

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