[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 116 (Tuesday, September 26, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9245-S9246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I raise one other item of priority, and 
that is the failure to take action on the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act.
  If we don't take action, this will be the first time in 35 years 
where the Senate has failed to take action on the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act. I, again, bring to the attention of our 
colleagues the commitment that was made by the majority leader going 
back to 1999.
  On January 6, 1999, he said:

       Education is going to be a central issue this year. . . . 
     For starters, we must reauthorize the Elementary and 
     Secondary Education Act. That is important.

  On January 29, 1999:

       But education is going to have a lot of attention, and it's 
     not going to just be words. . . .

  On June 22, 1999:

       Education is number one on the agenda for Republicans in 
     the Congress this year. . . .

  On February 1, 2000:

       We're going to work very hard on education. I have 
     emphasized that every year I've been Majority Leader. . . . 
     And Republicans are committed to doing that.

  On February 3, 2000:

       We must reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act. . . . Education will be a high priority in this 
     Congress.

  Here we are in May of 2000:

       . . . I haven't scheduled a cloture vote. . . . But 
     education is number one in the minds of the American people 
     all across this country and every state, including my own 
     state. For us to have a good, healthy, and even a protracted 
     debate and amendments on education I think is the way to go.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator now has 10 minutes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Chair.
  I ask the Chair to let me know when I have 2 minutes remaining.
  Final statement, July 25:


[[Page S9246]]


       We will keep trying to find a way to get back to this 
     legislation this year and get it completed.

  We have not been able to do that. We have been unable to do it. The 
basic reason that we have been unable to do it is because those on this 
side wanted to offer a series of amendments--on smaller class size; 
well-trained teachers in every classroom in America; help and 
assistance in the construction of schools, in the modernization of 
schools; afterschool programs; assurance that we are going to have 
tough accountability; that we are also going to reduce the digital 
divide; and access for continuing education programs; but we also 
wanted to make sure that we were going to take the necessary steps to 
help make the schools safe and secure--and once that became evident, 
then there was a different mood around here. Then that bill was 
effectively pulled by the majority. We do not yield on the issue of 
making sure we do everything we possibly can to make sure that schools 
are going to be safe and secure.
  I draw attention to the tragic situation today in the Carter Woodson 
Middle School in New Orleans, LA. Two teenage boys have been involved 
in another school shooting. Someone passed a gun in through a fence, 
and a young child used it. That child shot another child, and then he 
dropped the gun. Another child picked up the gun and shot the initial 
shooter. Both children are critically injured and in surgery. School 
has been canceled for 3 days.
  We have pressing education issues to address. We have pressing needs 
to try to make our communities safer and more secure and to remove the 
opportunities for children to acquire the weapons of destruction that 
end up taking other children's lives. But we are denied that. As a 
result, we will not have the chance to reauthorize.

  I say that because we heard from the majority leader that we are not 
going to take up education because we are not going to consider gun 
legislation, in spite of the fact that in 1994, our majority leader co-
sponsored gun legislation that was proposed by a Republican Senator. 
They didn't complain then and say it was inappropriate or irrelevant at 
that time. It is relevant to make sure that schools are safe and 
secure.
  I heard a great deal in the last few days about what is happening in 
the schools of this country. All of us understand that we have 
challenges that exist in our inner-city schools and many of our rural 
schools. We understand that. But I am kind of tired of people just 
tearing down the public school system. That has become rather 
fashionable. We have heard that in part of the national debate. I am 
just going to bring some matters to the attention of the Senate.
  First are the number of students who are taking advanced math and 
science classes--this is from 1990 to 2000. On precalculus, the number 
of students went from 31 to 44 percent; on calculus, from 19 percent to 
24 percent; on physics from 44 percent to 49 percent--a very 
significant increase in the number of children who are taking more 
challenging courses in our high schools, according to the College 
Board.
  On this chart we see the growth in the percent of students who are 
taking the scholastic aptitude tests. This went from 33 percent in 
1980, to 40 percent in 1990, and up to 44 percent. The trend lines are 
moving up. It is not an enormous amount of progress from 40 percent to 
44 percent, but nonetheless it is showing an enhancement of the total 
number of children who are taking those tests.
  Here are the SAT math scores. They are the highest in 30 years. This 
is important because we have many more children taking them.
  It is one thing that we have a small number of children taking the 
test, now we have expanded the number of children who are taking the 
test nationwide. And what do we see? The SAT math scores are the 
highest in 30 years. They have been moving up now consistently over the 
last few years. Actually, in the early years, in terms of minorities, 
the difference has actually diminished.
  What we are saying is that there are some very important indicators 
that are going in the right way. I was quite interested in hearing the 
Governor of Texas talk about how our schools are in all kinds of 
trouble and how it happens to be the Vice President's fault. But 
meanwhile the States themselves have 93 cents out of every dollar to 
spend. They are the ones who have the prime responsibility to spend on 
education. So the question comes down to, if they are the ones who have 
the prime responsibility, is it fair enough to ask what these Governors 
have been doing over this period of time?
  Federal participation has been targeted on the neediest children. 
They are the toughest ones to try and bring educational enhancement and 
academic achievement to; they are the ones who are targeted. 
Nonetheless, we see what has been enhanced. There have been some very 
notable kinds of improvements. I think the State of North Carolina, 
under Governor Hunt, has been one of the outstanding examples of total 
improvement in how they have been dealing with troubled schools--those 
schools that have been facing challenges. Instead of the proposal that 
is offered by Governor Bush in this particular instance, which would 
draw money from it and effectively close down that school, we find out 
how they are handling that with Governor Hunt in North Carolina. In 
North Carolina they send in teams to help restructure both the 
personnel and the curriculum. What is happening is major achievements 
and accomplishments.
  Those are the kinds of ideas we ought to be embracing, the ones that 
have been tried and tested and have been effective.
  I want to show, finally, where we are going over a long period of 
time in terms of enrollment. It will continue to rise over the next 
century. We are failing in this Congress to have a debate and a 
conclusion on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We had 6 days 
of discussion on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; 2 days for 
debate only. Then we had eight votes--one vote was a voice vote; three 
were virtually unanimous. So we had four votes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 2 minutes remaining.
  Mr. KENNEDY. We have not had the full debate and discussion of what 
American parents want. The fact is, projected over the next years, we 
are going to see virtually a doubling of the number of children, up to 
94 million. The children in this country and the parents deserve a 
debate and discussion in the Senate on education. They have been denied 
that. For the first time in the history of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act, the Senate has failed to meet its commitment in this 
area.
  I regret that, Mr. President. I wish we were debating that instead of 
having long quorum calls or lengthy speeches on the floor of the 
Senate.
  I retain the remainder of my time under cloture.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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