[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S310-S311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CLASS-SIZE REDUCTION

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Illinois for 
his work this morning, with our leader Senator Tom Daschle, in setting 
out the Democratic priorities that are so important to us and to the 
American people.
  Having just returned from a very short weekend in my State, 2,500 
miles away, it is clear that the American people are waiting anxiously 
to hear what the 106th Congress is planning to do regarding the 
business of the people. At the top of the list of people's concerns is 
the education of our young people.
  Today, as you heard from our leader, we are presenting a 
comprehensive set of investments in America's public schools--school 
construction, before-and-after school care, improvements in teacher 
quality and class-size reduction.
  In the fall of 1998, the U.S. Senate took the first important step on 
the path to reducing class size. In the fall of 1999, just a few months 
from now, when parents send their children off to school, they will ask 
them on the first day, as they always do: ``Who is your teacher? And 
how many children are in your class?"
  But the schools those children attend next fall will have a new tool 
for helping students learn. Approximately 30,000 new, well-prepared 
teachers will go into classrooms across this country. Demonstrating 
that Capitol Hill can listen to the people and get things done, we got 
the 105th Congress to agree to starting on this important path.
  This year, we must finish the job we started last fall. We must 
provide schools the remainder of the funding necessary to hire 100,000 
new and well-trained teachers over the next 6 years. This year, our 
work will include the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act, the major law that governs K-12 education in this 
country.
  As part of our work, we must authorize the class-size reduction 
effort we started last year in appropriations. We must finish the job 
for the people in local school communities who are relying on us to do 
our job.
  People in schools across this Nation are fully engaged in the debate 
over educational quality and in identifying what works to improve 
learning for students. Local education leaders know that reducing class 
size is an effective part of local school improvement.
  Research shows that it works and so does the experience of teachers 
and parents and students. Policymakers and educators know that as they 
reduce class size, they can also improve the quality of their local 
teacher pool by improving professional development, training, 
certification and recruitment.
  Local communities are using the Federal class size and teacher 
quality effort as a way to beef up their own investment in the future 
of their young people. School boards are taking action. Governors and 
State legislators are proposing class-size investments this year based 
on our successful effort last year.
  All of these people are moving ahead with class-size reduction, 
because last year their representatives in Washington, DC, finally 
heard the call for funding for more and better teachers. They are 
counting on continued funding, and we have come back this year to get 
it for them. I just want to take this opportunity to tell people 
directly--we intend to keep class-size reduction a national priority.
  The proposal in the bill that was outlined by our Democratic leader 
today, and in a bill I will be introducing separately, honors the 
agreement that we achieved last year. It requires no new forms and no 
red tape. It focuses on hiring new teachers, but it also makes 
investments in teacher quality from the onset, and it allows districts 
that meet their goals of getting to 18 or fewer students in classes in 
grades 1 through 3 to use the money to improve class size in other 
grades or to take other steps to improve the quality of their teaching 
pool.
  I can't tell you how many times I have heard from people since the 
end of last Congress, how thankful they were that their Congress 
started this important investment in class-size reduction. Students 
learn better when they get the help they need in their classroom. I 
have been hearing it from students themselves. They want to thank us 
for doing the right thing, and they want us to keep it up.
  Mr. President, education really matters. This year, we have the 
country behind us and several major opportunities to seriously improve 
American schools to meet American expectations. But it will take a lot 
of hard work and courage to get there. We need all our school laws to 
work better for local communities, for our teachers and staff, for 
parents and families, and most importantly, for our students. We must 
keep in mind that the students are our real clients and organize our 
work around their needs and not ours.

[[Page S311]]

  We need better flexibility, better accountability, better efficiency 
and better funding. We need to make some important investments in the 
nuts and bolts of providing education, class-size reduction, better 
facilities, better training for teachers and more opportunities for 
students to be safe and to learn. These investments cost money, and we 
just need to make it happen.

  We also need better leadership and vision and articulation of why we 
are all working so hard--so that students learn better and faster and 
have more hope for the future.
  As a former school board member, I can tell you that sometimes the 
decisions are not about money, they are about finding the best way to 
do things so students can learn. And we need to support those decisions 
as well.
  A great example of this was our superintendent, John Stanford, of the 
Seattle school district. Superintendent Stanford, who died this year 
after a heroic battle with cancer, showed people in Seattle and around 
the Nation just what we can accomplish in our schools by setting the 
right tone, asking for the best effort possible, and not accepting 
less. Many adults in a community know the superintendent of their 
district, but never have I seen so many students, young children who 
knew that John Stanford was their superintendent and that he wanted 
desperately and personally for them to succeed and they responded.
  You will see elements of all these ideas today that address all of 
these issues--clear vision, more flexibility, better accountability, 
increased efficiency and improved funding. You will see here what 
America is asking for its public schools: We need to set high 
standards, articulate a vision, and give people the support and backing 
they need to get the job done. When these bills pass into law, you will 
see American schools that work better, for better results, for all of 
our children.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues and the American people 
to take these important steps for better schools across our land. As 
well, I thank our leader for speaking to legislation that he will 
introduce shortly on health care reform, retirement security, 
afterschool programs and more. These are the issues the American public 
wants us to address and work on, and I look forward to working with all 
of my colleagues to meet these challenges. I hope we can make progress 
this year and make a difference in the quality of life in all of the 
families in this country. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. BOND addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri is recognized.
  Mr. BOND. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Bond pertaining to the introduction of S. 52 are 
located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and 
Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. DURBIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Iowa, Senator 
Harkin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I thank the manager.

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