[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 3, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H914-H915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE REPUBLICANS TAKE ACTION ON IMPROVING SCHOOLS
(Mr. SOUDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include therein
extraneous material.)
Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot today and we will hear a
lot more in the future about who is saving social security, but there
is a key fact we should keep in mind. That is, for 40 years the
Democrats held control of this House. The number of times they worked
to save social security was somewhere around zero.
The important thing here is not whether we talk, but whether we do.
Today in the Committee on Education and the Workforce we are
considering a bill called Ed-Flex, to give local and State governments
more flexibility, and allowing school boards more flexibility in
education. Similar bills are being considered on the Senate floor. We
are actually doing something about what other people talk about. It is
a bipartisan effort. The gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle), the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Roemer), and others from both sides of the
aisle are reaching forth.
Will the Democratic Party join with us in trying to give flexibility?
I will refer to two articles, which I will insert into the
Congressional Record along with these remarks. One is from Steve
Gordon, president of the East Allen County School Board, saying, States
should fight Federal meddling in the schools. We don't need a national
school board in Washington. We need to give more flexibility to local
school boards and States.
Another is a letter to the editor praising Concordia High School in
my district, which is the largest Lutheran high school in the country,
for their drug testing programs. At the local level people are doing
things, not just talking.
The letters referred to are as follows:
[From the Ft. Wayne News Sentinel, Feb. 22, 1999]
State Should Fight Federal Meddling in Schools
With the start of the new legislative year, one issue that
always comes up is education. Of course, the president,
governor and every
[[Page H915]]
legislator have this issue near the top of their agendas.
The president used his State of the Union speech to address
aspects of education, and I would like to respond. He
recommends bringing public education more under the authority
of the federal government. He also makes some points that
should be common-sense to most Americans, but to him are more
of a revelation that only the federal government should
implement.
His first point was to end social promotion. Children
should not graduate with a diploma they can't read. Who could
possibly oppose this? Already schools--at the local level--
are endeavoring to ensure reading skills are mastered at the
earliest grade levels.
His second point was to close low-performing schools. Will
the federal government decide this issue? By what standard?
Indiana already examines each public school's performance and
intervenes when necessary to help those schools to meet their
specific needs. We don't need the federal government to
transcend the state authority already in place.
His third point suggested that teachers only teach subjects
they are trained in. This is another local issue--one
manipulated by contracts, state licensing rules and course
offerings requested by students. What we at the local level
need is greater flexibility in putting qualified teachers
into the classroom. Indiana should modify the licensing
procedure to allow people to teach who are qualified in the
material but do not necessarily have a major in education.
An example is: Schools are in great need of vocational
program teachers. People who have vocational skills but may
not meet licensing requirements could pass their
experience on to students. For example, people just out of
the military or retirees could fill this need.
His fourth point was to allow parents to choose which
public school to send their child to based on school ``report
cards.'' Indiana already requires each district to publish
information about schools' performance. Charter schools have
been a state issue and should remain so. One aspect of
charters that makes them unique is the avoidance of many
current state Department of Education regulations. I suggest
that if some schools can do this, all public schools should
be allowed to avoid these rules.
His fifth point was to ``implement sensible discipline
policies.'' Not long ago, the president pushed through the
mandatory one-year expulsion for any student who comes to
school with a handgun. Every state had to make this into law.
Indiana already had a law forbidding handguns to be within
1,000 feet of a school. Why was it necessary to federalize
this issue?
I would like to make some suggestions in contrast to the
president's agenda.
First, give real tax relief to families. When families have
both parents working out of necessity, they have less time
for their children. A parent waiting for the child to arrive
at home is better than after-school programs. Families are
paying approximately 40 percent of their income to taxes. One
parent is effectively working just to pay the government.
Children need their parents--not another government program!
Second, do not generalize when talking about education.
Every school has unique problems--and many have unique
successes. Create opportunities for all schools to succeed in
the areas that they want and need. Rather than add more
bureaucracy, remove what currently exists. Free the public
schools up so that they can compete equally with private
schools. It is tempting--and easy--for legislators to get
their hands into the means of education. Be more concerned
about the results and leave the means implementation to the
local school districts. They can better assess their specific
needs and respond to them directly.
Third, let the local districts decide how to spend money.
The recent ``100,000 teachers'' legislation is a perfect
example. Considering the amount of money appropriated, it
will never meet the need to hire that amount of teachers. It
creates an obligation to the school districts to make up a
difference that they may not have.
Finally, I would ask that education remain a local issue
and that the state resist any further federal intervention.
There are problems in public education, but they can be much
better resolved at the local and state level. Washington
doesn't need to involve itself any further.
I realize I do not have the influence on law-makers that
the president or governor may have. But I am only a school
board member. I want to do what is in the best interests of
students in this district. I ask parents who support these
ideas to contact their representatives and tell them how they
feel.
____
[From the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette, Mar. 2, 1999]
Praise School That Fights Drugs
It has long been said that one picture is worth a thousand
words. Unfortunately those words do not have to be the truth
or accurate. Such is the case with the Feb. 26 editorial
cartoon. It infers several incorrect concepts. The first is
that education will take a secondary role to drug testing at
Concordia High School. One only has to look at ISTEP scores,
graduation rates, percent of graduates going to college and
SAT scores to refute that idea.
The second is that the testing will occupy the entire
school day. Testing can be completed in a very short period
of time, being minimally disruptive to the school day. For a
non-drug user an inconvenience--to a drug user, surely no
more disruptive than days missed because of over indulgence.
His third incorrect concept is the most damaging. His
attempt to ridicule the recently announced plan for random
drug testing at Concordia, by overstating his case, will give
those who have a misguided belief that drug testing is evil
and an invasion of privacy the belief that taking action to
help prevent good kids from making bad decisions is an
unworthy undertaking.
Rather than swelling up with righteous indignation over the
alleged loss of privacy, I would suggest the editorial staff
consider looking at the educational success gained at a high
school where standards are set, expectations delineated and
students and faculty are held accountable for their actions.
This action to take care of a problem that occurs in every
high school in this area is the act of responsible
administrators and parents who are taking action rather than
burying their heads in the sand.
Earnie Williamson,
Fort Wayne.
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