[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 145 (Friday, October 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13051-S13054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY:
  S. 1772. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to foster family and school partnerships for promoting 
children's educational achievement through strengthening family 
involvement and providing professional development to school staff, and 
to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for parenting 
education programs; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.


               family and school partnership act of 1999

  S. 1773. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to increase student involvement, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.


             youth and adult school partnership act of 1999

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are rapidly coming to the end of the 
session. This Congress has a lot of unfinished business left in far too 
many areas: Patients' Bill of Rights, prescription drug, guns, juvenile 
justice, and education. Today I want to take a few minutes to talk 
about one of America's top priorities, education. Today I am going to 
be introducing, a little bit later, and describing several bills that 
will improve education in America. We are about to start our biggest 
debate on education in 5 years as we begin the work on the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act.
  If the past few weeks are any indication, I am very concerned that in 
this critical education debate our children are going to be the losers, 
and that would really be a shame. Education has long been a bipartisan 
issue, but somehow in this Congress partisanship has too often pushed 
progress aside.
  Two weeks ago, I tried to help our schools continue a very successful 
initiative to hire more teachers so there would be fewer kids in each 
of our classrooms. Just 1 year ago, this initiative was announced as a 
bipartisan issue and leaders on both sides of the aisle claimed credit 
for this national effort to reduce class sizes in grades 1 through 3. 
But now, a year later, this amendment has been defeated on a party line 
vote.
  Parents and teachers want real solutions. They want real investments. 
They want a real commitment to our schools. I believe we can do what is 
right for education in this Congress. When we listen to parents and 
educators and students, a vision for improving our schools based on 
their real needs is clear. I believe we must first establish the 
following principles: We need to ensure that all children have an equal 
opportunity to learn. We need to elevate the teaching profession 
through better pay and greater respect. We need to hold educators 
accountable for students' progress. And we need to invest more money in 
public education.
  This plan is built on a partnership among Federal, State and local 
officials, working together to help all our students. It starts with 
making the school work for our students. That means making sure the 
school buildings are safe and secure and modern. That is why I am an 
original cosponsor of the School Modernization Act, so kids do not have 
to learn in crumbling schools or overcrowded classrooms.
  It means making sure the teachers have the training and professional 
development they need to give our kids the best. That is why I am an 
original cosponsor of the Public Schools Education Excellence Act. A 
section of that act that I wrote called Teacher Technology Training 
will make sure all educators know the best ways to use technology to 
teach our children.
  It means making sure education does not stop when the school bell 
rings. We need to give our kids safe and educational things to do when 
the schoolday is over and parents are still at work. And it means 
making sure there are, at most, 18 students in each classroom instead 
of 30. We know in smaller classes kids get the time and attention they 
need. That is why I wrote and I am going to continue to fight for the 
Class Size Reduction and Teacher Quality Act, to give schools the money 
they need to reduce our class sizes, particularly in the younger 
grades.
  Everyone wants smaller classes. When you ask experts in education, 
they tell you that, based on their research, smaller classes make a big 
difference. When you ask teachers what makes the biggest difference, 
the answer is smaller classes. And when you ask parents, Do you want 
your child in a class of 30 or 18? the answer is clear; they want 
smaller classes. Smaller classes help kids learn the basics and improve 
classroom discipline. Parents, teachers, and experts all want smaller 
classes.
  Last year, this Congress promised schools we would fund smaller class 
sizes for 7 years. This year, schools across the country are taking 
advantage of that program. But here we are, just 1 year later, and that 
commitment is fading. Last week, I released a letter signed by 38 
Senators, Senators who are going to stand up for class size reduction. 
The President said if this Congress does not fund class size reduction, 
he will veto the bill. Last week, 38 Senators said they would stand 
with him and back up that veto.
  Let me say to my colleagues, if you shortchange class size, the 
President will veto your bill. If you try to override that veto, we 
will stand together to make sure our kids get the smaller classes they 
deserve, the ones we promised them 1 year ago, a promise made by both 
parties to all of our kids.
  I have other ideas on how we can help our students. As we begin 
discussing our Nation's Federal education law, I will introduce 
legislation to assure that all segments of our school community--
teachers, students, and families--play their role in improving 
education.
  To help teachers, my legislation will give us the tools to recruit 
the world's finest educators; to retain educators by improving 
professional development and creating career ladders so that our best 
teachers will not leave the classroom but will have the opportunity to 
continue to grow professionally; to make sure all teachers can use the 
tools of technology to boost student achievement.
  It will reward and recognize great educators. It will offer a 
meaningful financial bonus for States to improve teacher pay. And it 
will require educators to meet the same high standards we expect of our 
students.
  Today, I am introducing legislation to help students by creating more 
meaningful roles for students in their schools and communities, finding 
the best examples of students and adults working together and rewarding 
those efforts and sharing those ideas with all schools, and showing the 
link between student involvement and student achievement.
  Because we know parents and families are a child's first and best 
teachers, I am also introducing legislation that will invite families 
into our schools, train teachers, and administrators in the best ways 
to involve parents, and invest in family involvement at newer and 
higher levels.
  It will use technology to make it easier for parents to stay informed 
and involved in their child's education. Borrowing from an example in 
my home State of Washington, it will build on the success of parent 
cooperative preschools which use local community colleges as a vehicle 
to improve parent involvement and school readiness for young kids.
  I have talked with parents in my State, and it has become clear they 
want to be involved in their child's education. Too often, though, 
their jobs prevent them from being involved. That is why I introduced 
my Time for Schools Act. Which lets parents take up to 24 hours of 
unpaid leave off work each year to attend academic events at school and 
be involved in their child's education. That is the type of real-

[[Page S13054]]

world solution that will help our parents.
  Those are all parts of the comprehensive vision for improving 
education. I believe this plan will help prepare America for the next 
century. It is based on what we know works and has real money to back 
it up.
  All too often, the debates on education begin with talk about how bad 
our public schools are. Everyone will hear that our schools are in 
shambles. I believe our schools are not failing, but if we let this 
Congress cut education funding, we will be failing our public schools.
  Most of our public schools are doing a good job. Some are not, but 
they are all facing more and more challenges with fewer resources than 
ever before. We have to recognize those challenges and prepare our 
schools and our children for the future.
  Today, I hear a lot of talk about bureaucracy. I hear our schools are 
trapped by red tape. I was a school board member, and I know what it is 
like to fill out forms and, yes, we should reduce paperwork. That is 
why the class size reduction application is only one page, is available 
online, and takes just a few minutes to fill out. Less paperwork is 
good. But somehow some people have convinced themselves that if there 
are fewer forms, our kids will magically get the resources they need. 
Fewer forms will not buy a textbook or build a classroom. It takes 
resources and support, and it takes real dollars. Reducing bureaucracy 
sounds good, but it means nothing if it is only as good as the paper on 
which it is written.

  I hear a lot of talk about flexibility. That sounds great. I support 
flexibility because I know that principals and local school boards 
understand their own needs best. But we cannot forget right now that 
the Federal Government sets money aside for specific programs, like for 
homeless children or gifted children, money to help our schools become 
safe and drug free. That money is targeted for special needs which we 
as a country believe are important, and those Federal funds do a lot of 
good because they are seven times more targeted than other education 
funds. That money ensures that every American child gets a good 
education.
  But the plans I hear about tell schools, ``Do whatever you want with 
the money.'' At the same time, those plans start cutting the amount of 
money available to schools, and then our kids are the losers. When that 
dollar is no longer attached to a specific need, like making our 
schools safe after Columbine, or meeting the needs of a child who is 
behind or a child who is gifted, it is a lot easier to cut that money.
  Now schools think they have a choice, but they really have fewer 
options because there is less money available than there was the day 
before. When schools have choice with less money, national priorities 
and protections lose out.
  Suddenly that choice does not sound so good. Suddenly that choice is 
not liberating; it is limiting, and that is wrong because some of our 
kids are going to be left behind when a bill promising some version of 
flexibility makes schools choose between children. Let's not forget 
that we have already passed a better version of school flexibility 
called Ed-Flex earlier this year. Let's see how that serves our 
children before we try more risky approaches.
  We cannot forget why the Federal Government got involved in 
education. Thirty years ago, when education was left to States and 
localities alone, some kids got left behind. So the Federal Government 
set a basic safety net for all children. These are the targeted funds 
that some plans would put into a block grant and then cut.
  The Federal Government does two other vital things: It helps us meet 
national priorities, such as teaching technology or reducing class 
size, and it also helps students meet their potential and achieve at 
their highest levels. When this Congress ignores the reasons why we 
have a Federal partner in education, we are left with false choices 
that fail our children.
  Our country deserves a real choice. We must offer real plans, real 
money to improve our schools, not false choices and not funding cuts. I 
urge my colleagues to listen to the American people. We should treat 
education like a priority and do right by all of our children.

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