[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 114 (Friday, September 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9017-S9019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION

  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, one thing behind the growth of the 
American economy is our educational system. There is good news and bad 
news about our educational system today.
  In a climate that currently seems filled with more dissent than 
accord, I think we can at least agree that elected officials on both 
sides of the aisle are in lockstep with the American people on the 
importance of education: It is a priority so critical that it should be 
at the top of our national agenda. This is a view very similar to the 
opinion held by President Lincoln almost 150 years ago. ``Upon the 
subject of education,'' Lincoln said, ``not presuming to dictate any 
plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most 
important subject which we, as a people, can be engaged in.''
  Education's priority having been espoused by both sides during this 
Congress, it is profoundly disappointing that S. 2, the critically 
important legislation to reauthorize the landmark Elementary and 
Education Act, appears to be dead for this year. What a shame. It is 
apparent from the earlier floor debate on S. 2 that agreement breaks 
down on the condition of America's educational system today and on the 
course we should pursue to improve our schools.
  Seventeen years ago our country was rocked by the publication of ``A 
Nation at Risk.'' The findings were devastating: Our educational system 
was

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being ``eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our future 
as a nation and a people.''
  That landmark report went on to say that if ``an unfriendly foreign 
power'' had tried to impose on America our ``mediocre educational 
performance,'' we might well have viewed it ``as an act of war.''
  I have listened to some of my colleagues maintain that nothing has 
changed in the last 17 years--that American education continues on a 
downward spiral. They claim that the federal government's role in 
education is a source of national shame. Barring a radical change in 
course, they say, America's report card will continue to be a document 
of failure.
  Mr. President, I agree that there is compelling need for improvement. 
In fact, if you ask the companies in the high-tech world in my State 
and around America, they know that some 300,000 to 400,000 high-tech 
jobs out there in this economy today are going begging for want of 
educated and talented people.
  Every day in America almost 2,800 high school students drop out. This 
is not acceptable. Each school year, more than 45,000 under-prepared 
teachers, teachers who have not even been trained in the subjects they 
are teaching, enter the classroom. Who here among us believes this to 
be acceptable? Here in America fourteen million children attend schools 
in need of extensive repair or replacement. Who in this body would 
argue that we have to do better? As a nation we have witnessed school 
shootings--classroom tragedies which were unheard of 20 years ago. Who 
here would not do everything in their power to restore safety and 
sanity to America's schools?
  But, Mr. President, I would argue that this is only part of the 
picture. ``A Nation at Risk'' was a wake-up call. Educators, parents, 
businesses, community leaders, and officials at all levels of 
government responded. Yes, serious problems still exist, but so do 
success stories. America's dropout rate is down--from 14 percent in 
1982 to single digits today, including in many of our toughest 
neighborhoods. In my own State of Georgia, over 70 percent of high 
school students now graduate, a marked improvement over the 52 percent 
graduation rate in 1980. In 1950, only 5 percent of Georgians held 
college degrees. Now over one in five--22 percent--do.

  And there's more good news. Nationally SAT and Advanced Placement 
test scores are up. Performance on the National Assessment of 
Educational Progress, NAEP, has increased, particularly in the key 
subjects of reading, mathematics, and science--with African American 
and Hispanic students making significant gains in both math and 
science.
  Just consider: From 1994 to 1998, average reading scores increased at 
all three grades tested (4, 8, and 12). The average math score is at 
its highest level in 26 years. And let us not forget that this progress 
is happening during a time when many states and school districts are 
raising standards and putting in place tough graduation requirements. 
This progress is happening during a time when U.S. students are taking 
more rigorous courses than ever. By 1994, 52 percent of high school 
graduates had taken the core subjects recommended by ``A Nation at 
Risk,'' almost quadruple the 1982 number.
  To those who over the last 20 years have uttered doomsday predictions 
about our failing schools, let me say that parents in this country, in 
overwhelming numbers, continue to send their children to public 
schools. In fact, ninety percent of children in the K-12 age group 
attend public schools. That's nine out of every ten children in this 
country. When America's school bell rang this September, over 53 
million students returned to class, a record school enrollment. What's 
more, surveys show that most parents think their own child's public 
school is doing a pretty good job. It's other people's schools they 
fear are failing.
  Mark Twain once said, ``Get your facts first, and then you can 
distort them as much as you please.'' The facts, I believe, bear out 
that we have made progress since the publication of ``A Nation at 
Risk.'' The facts also bear out that many of our education challenges 
continue to go unmet. In a survey on education issues conducted this 
past March, Americans were asked to list the major problems facing our 
public schools today. ``Lack of parental involvement'' topped the list, 
followed closely by ``undisciplined students.'' The majority of 
respondents also cited ``lack of retention of good teachers,'' 
``overcrowded classrooms,'' ``lack of academic standards for promotion/
graduation,'' ``lack of teachers qualified to teach in their subject 
area,'' and ``outdated schools'' as issues meriting our nation's 
attention.
  It all boils down to this central issue: Do we stay the course or do 
we reshape, dramatically, the federal government's role in education? I 
believe strongly that we should increase our federal investment in 
public schools, for surely the education of America's children is a 
vital national interest. I also believe that we should continue to work 
with the states and local school districts--who are now and who should 
and will remain the major education decision-makers in this country--to 
ensure that those federal dollars are spent on initiatives that aim to 
fix the specific problems in our schools which are causing the American 
people so much concern.
  We need to be willing to invest the nation's dollars into improving 
the recruitment, retention, and professional development of our 
nation's teachers. What teachers know and can do is the single most 
important influence on what students learn, according to the National 
Commission for Teaching and America's Future Teachers.
  In the American educational system, it falls to our States and local 
communities to set high educational standards and provide quality 
education so that all children can achieve to standards of excellence. 
While the federal government's precise role in education is open to 
debate, I believe it is unquestionably in our national interest for 
federal officials to work in cooperation with States and localities to 
promote educational excellence and to encourage standards-based reform.
  We should work to ensure that parents have information on teacher 
qualifications and achievement levels at their child's school. One 
important way to improve our schools is to enable parents to hold 
schools accountable for progress and to give them choices they can 
exercise if progress does not occur.
  Research has shown that class size directly relates to the quality of 
education. Students in smaller classes consistently outperform students 
in larger classes on tests, are more likely to graduate on time, stay 
in school, enroll in honors classes, and graduate in the top ten 
percent of their class. We need to help local school districts recruit, 
hire and train 100,000 qualified teachers to reduce class sizes in the 
early grades. It is an investment in reducing teacher turnover and in 
improving student performance.
  Research also links student achievement and conduct to the condition 
of their schools. Yet fourteen million children in the U.S. attend 
schools in need of extensive repair or replacement. In my own State of 
Georgia, nearly two-thirds of our schools--62 percent--report a need to 
upgrade or repair their buildings. We need to help local communities 
from Savannah to San Antonio to Seattle rebuild, modernize and reduce 
overcrowding in more than 6,000 of America's public schools.
  There is consensus in every borough, town and city throughout this 
country that bloodshed in our schools cannot and will not be tolerated. 
Yet every day five million children are left to care for themselves in 
the hours before and after school. We know that these are the very 
hours that children are most likely to participate in risky behavior. 
In fact, almost half of all violent juvenile crime takes place between 
the hours of 3 and 8 p.m. We need to help our communities reduce 
juvenile crime by investing more dollars in after-school care. We need 
to expand the popular 21st Century Learning Centers Program to ensure 
that 1 million children each year--up from the current 190,000--will 
have access to safe and constructive after-school tutoring, recreation, 
and academic enrichment.
  Mr. President, I maintain that there is no more powerful--and 
empowering--force in the universe than education. ``On education all 
our lives depend,'' said Benjamin Franklin. And Christa McAuliffe, 
selected to be the first schoolteacher to travel in space, described 
simply but poetically the

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awesome potential of her vocation: ``I touch the future,'' she said. 
``I teach.'' While we may bring to the debate on education differing 
views, it is my hope that we ultimately remember this is a profoundly 
important issue which should be above politics and ideology. It is all 
about the future of this country--and the future, after all, is in very 
small hands.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota is recognized.

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