[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10744-S10745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have come to the floor today to talk 
about education.
  In the past month, students across our country have gone back to 
school. They have entered schools where there are health and safety 
hazards, and they are trying to learn in classrooms that are 
overcrowded. They are competing for the time and attention of a 
teacher, and they are looking to us for support.
  I am frustrated to say this, but as this session of Congress draws to 
a close, this Congress has done very little to support those children 
across this country. This Congress, for the first time in 30 years, has 
failed to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. That 
is a disservice to students who are trying to learn in overcrowded 
classrooms, to students who are stuck in crumbling schools, and to 
students who do not feel safe at school.
  We can't pass ESEA reauthorization; it is too late. But we do have 
one place to make it up: in the final funding plan for the upcoming 
fiscal year.
  There are kids out there counting on us to do the right thing, and we 
need to pass a budget that addresses their needs. That is why I have 
come to the floor today, to urge my colleagues to do just that.
  As I look back on this session of Congress, I am frustrated by the 
way this process has broken down. We have been updating our national 
education policy for about 30 years. It has always been a bipartisan 
and productive process--but not this year. This year, the ESEA 
reauthorization was stalled by sharp partisanship. We had a chance to 
make a lot of progress, but this Congress failed.
  We weren't able to update our Nation's education policy to meet the 
needs of today's classrooms. As a parent, as a former educator and a 
former school board member, that is discouraging. What is even more 
discouraging is some of the talk that we have heard on the campaign 
trail this year. Not long ago, Governor Bush said that our country is 
experiencing a ``recession in education.'' I have thought a lot about 
that statement. To the teachers who are working harder than ever, it 
certainly doesn't feel like a recession. In fact, I think Governor Bush 
has it exactly backward. A recession is where there is a slowdown in 
economic activity, when production and employment decline, when there 
isn't much demand, when workers are idle and factories are slow. That 
is a recession.
  But that is not what is happening in education today at all. Our 
schools are not slowing down; they are working harder than ever. Our 
classrooms aren't empty; they are overcrowded. Our teachers aren't 
being idle because they are not needed; they are needed more now than 
ever. It is not that demand has slowed. The demands on our schools are 
higher than ever. The problem is our investment has not kept up. Any 
enterprise or business that wants to stay in business invests in its 
people, invests in the latest equipment, invests in capital projects, 
so that the capacity will keep up with the demand. That is what we have 
to do. But for some reason, when it comes to our schools, we have not 
made those investments. We have let schools that were built 40 or 50 
years ago simply decline. We have let great educators leave the 
classroom because they are frustrated by a system that doesn't give 
them the support or respect they deserve.
  Governor Bush, we are not in an education recession; we are in a 
period of explosive growth and growing demand in the classroom, and we 
need to make the investment to meet that growing demand. Governor Bush 
has the problem backward and that is why he has come up with the wrong 
solution. As a parent of two students who went to public school, I can 
tell you I don't want our next President to close down my school; I 
want him to make my school better. You don't do that by bashing public 
schools. You do it by investing in the things that we know work in the 
classroom.
  I have said it before and I will say it again: Our schools are facing 
overwhelming challenges with inadequate resources. Our public schools 
are not failing, but by failing to invest in them this Congress is 
failing our public schools. We need to give our schools the resources, 
the tools, and the support to meet today's challenges.
  There are important needs in my home State in classrooms. Sitting 
here in the Chamber, it is easy to forget the challenges that schools 
face across the country. If this Chamber is about to go into recess 
without making an investment in education, it needs to hear directly 
from people on the front line. So I decided to read a few letters I 
have received from students and teachers in my home State of 
Washington.
  Kristen Jensen Story is a parent and a teacher at White Center 
Heights Elementary School in the Highline School District. At her 
school, the majority of the students live in public housing and come 
from homes where English is not the first language.
  She tells me:

       We have been working hard to make sure these children 
     succeed and become contributing citizens to our great 
     Nation. The need for Federal public education funding is 
     greater now than ever before.
       We have the money. The Federal budget is forecasted to have 
     a $1.9 trillion surplus over the next decade. Make the 
     funding of public education a national priority.

  Let me read another letter. This one is from Becky Scheiderer, a 
teacher from the Bethel School District in Washington State.
  She writes:

       Children cannot wait another session.

  She goes on to explain some of the challenges her school is facing:

       Our students need to continue the successful programs, such 
     as Title I, special education, and smaller class sizes to 
     work with these students inclusively.

[[Page S10745]]

       Our district is growing, and we need schools constructed 
     soon.
       Our teachers, students and staff need safe schools to work 
     in for 7.5 hours a day.
       The need for Federal funding is even greater now than ever 
     before.

  Those are some of the real challenges facing our schools, and you 
don't fix them by bashing educators; you fix them by making an 
investment in the things that we know work.
  I want to turn to a few investments that we should be making in our 
final budget plan. It is our last chance this year to do the right 
thing for America's students. Let me start with making classrooms less 
crowded. We know our classrooms are overcrowded and we know that 
students can learn the basics, with fewer discipline problems, in less 
crowded classrooms.
  Parents know it, students know it, teachers know it, and studies show 
it.
  Two years ago, we made an investment in making classrooms less 
crowded. I am pleased to report that the investment is paying off for 
America's students. It is making a positive difference in their 
education. We gave local school districts the money to go out and hire 
more than 29,000 new qualified teachers for the early grades. And 
today, 1.7 million students are learning in less crowded classrooms.
  Our goal is to hire 100,000 new teachers. You would think that with 
the success we have had so far, there would be no question that we 
would keep our commitment to reducing class size. But that is not the 
case in this Congress. Right now, there is no guarantee that schools 
across the country will have funding guaranteed to reduce classroom 
overcrowding. Some of my colleagues on the Republican side say we don't 
need to commit money for class size reduction. They say if schools want 
to hire teachers, let them take the money out of title VI funding.
  Reducing overcrowding should not be done at the expense of something 
else. That money should be there--guaranteed to make a positive 
difference for students.
  In this debate, two things have been forgotten. First, part of the 
Federal role is to help disadvantaged students. The class size program 
is set up to target funding to low-income schools. If you dump that 
program into a block grant, there is no guarantee that it will be 
focused toward disadvantaged students. Title I, homeless and migrant 
education programs are all targeted to ensure that disadvantaged 
students get the help they need. A block grant offers no guarantees.
  The second point overlooked in this debate is the importance of 
accountability. Under a block grant, there is no guarantee this money 
will go to hire new teachers.

  Block grants mean less accountability. Right now, we can show that 
money was spent and how it is making a difference. If the money is 
block granted, we have no idea if it is making classrooms less crowded. 
Today, everybody is talking about accountability, and the best way to 
ensure accountability is to show that Federal dollars are being spent 
in a specific, targeted way to reach a specific goal. If we put Federal 
education funding into a block grant, there is no way to keep that 
money accountable. Class size is just one of the areas in which we need 
to invest.
  Let me mention another: school construction and modernization. Today, 
too many students enter school buildings that are crumbling or that 
have major safety hazards. In fact, 7 million students attend schools 
with safety code violations, including the presence of asbestos, lead 
paint, or radon in ceilings or walls. Almost 16 million students in 
this country attend schools without proper heating, ventilation, or 
air-conditioning. And too many of our schools don't have the 
technological infrastructure to meet our students' needs. For example, 
in our poorest schools, only 39 percent of classrooms have Internet 
access. We need to pass legislation that will give local school 
districts the financial help they need to build new schools and to 
modernize old ones.
  I want to turn to teacher quality. We can help ensure that every 
teacher in America is fully qualified and has the tools and the support 
to help our children reach their full potential. Today, there are 
thousands of world-class, high-quality teachers in our schools. They 
are professionals. They care deeply about the quality of our children's 
education, and any of us would be lucky to have our children learn from 
them. But the current system makes it harder and harder for teachers to 
really do their best. Instead of offering them the support they need to 
make a difference, the current system puts roadblocks in front of too 
many teachers.
  Teachers and parents have told me that the main challenges are the 
three R's: recruiting great teachers, retaining great teachers, and 
rewarding great teachers.
  We need to recruit young people into the teaching profession. We need 
effective, ongoing, professional development programs that are aligned 
with local standards and curricula. We need efforts to boost pay for 
great teachers and to raise respect for educators. In the closing weeks 
of the 106th session, we should be supporting efforts to improve 
teacher quality.
  Finally, the subject of accountability. We should not accept defeat 
or give up on our Nation's schools. We need to identify schools that 
need extra help and turn those schools around.
  It is late in the legislative process, and we are in a rush to end 
this year's session. Let's remember one thing. America's students 
didn't create this rush. I am standing here today and I will be 
fighting to make sure that our students are not penalized because this 
Senate failed to do its work. I know my colleagues are eager to go 
home, but we still have time to do the right thing. We still have time 
to support the work that local educators, students, and parents are 
doing. The way to do it isn't to bash public schools but to put Federal 
dollars where they will help the most and to keep those dollars 
accountable. The way to do that is to invest in things that we know 
work, such as smaller classes, modern facilities, fully qualified 
teachers, and accountability. It is not too late to do the right thing.
  Parents, teachers, and students across this country are counting on 
us to do our part as a responsible Federal partner. Let's not let them 
down.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________