[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 6 (Saturday, January 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S63-S65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      NOMINATION OF RODERICK PAIGE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, all of us are pleased that the nominee 
for Secretary of Education, Dr. Roderick Paige, will be confirmed with 
unanimous bipartisan support. I'm optimistic that his bipartisan 
confirmation will set a high standard for bipartisan cooperation on 
education in the coming years.
  The issue is of profound importance for the future of our country. 
Education is a continuum that begins at birth and continues through 
college and in the larger working society. States and communities are 
making significant progress in improving their public schools, and that 
is evident in the city of Houston under the leadership of Dr. Paige. 
But we know that more needs to be done. Public schools across the 
nation are facing ever greater challenges. This year, elementary and 
secondary schools confront record enrollments of 53 million students, 
and by all estimates, the number of school-age children will continue 
to increase steadily over the next decade and beyond.
  As schools and communities struggle to educate millions more 
children, they also face the difficult challenges of achieving higher 
standards of learning, and dealing with other problems

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such as overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of qualified teachers, 
increased safety concerns, and a lack of adequate after-school 
programs. Schools cannot face these challenges alone. They need the 
help of their communities, their States, and the Federal Government to 
provide the best possible opportunities for all children. We must 
invest in critical national priorities and target funds to the neediest 
students. That means investing in better teachers, smaller classes, 
safe and modern facilities, better after-school programs, and programs 
to help children obtain the literacy skills they need. And that 
literacy training needs to begin in the very early years, long before a 
child first walks through the schoolhouse door.
  As we increase support for proven effective reform in each of these 
areas, we must also increase accountability. At the same time, we can't 
afford to undermine the Federal investment in education by adopting 
block grants to States in ways that would undermine local control, 
reduce targeting to the neediest children, put too little emphasis on 
what works, or eliminate accountability for results. Above all, we must 
not undermine public schools through private school vouchers. Block 
grants and vouchers have not been proven effective. They are divisive 
issues that lead to needless partisan conflict.
  Genuine reform of public schools requires bipartisan consensus on 
targeted top priorities. At his confirmation hearing, Dr. Paige 
testified that if a strategy had been proven effective in helping to 
improve public schools and student achievement, he will consider it as 
a potential Federal investment. I hope that all of us in Congress hold 
ourselves to the same standard. We know what works to help children do 
well in school. We need to do more to help schools implement these 
strategies.
  When President Bush submits the details of his education proposals, I 
am hopeful that we will find many areas of strong bipartisan agreement 
on reforms such as increased accountability, better targeting of 
resources to the neediest students, placing a qualified teacher in 
every classroom, improving children's reading skills, making each 
school a safe learning environment for students and teachers, and 
ensuring that all children with disabilities get a good education too. 
We can also strengthen our commitment to make college affordable for 
every qualified student in America. With over 15 million students 
enrolled in higher education today, we must continue to invest in 
student loans, and ensure that students continue to obtain the low cost 
loans they deserve.
  But for the neediest students, loans are often not enough. The 
prospect of a mountain of debt is often impossibly intimidating. We 
need to focus on grants as well as loans, so that we can open the doors 
of college to millions more students. In 1980, the proportion of grants 
to loans in Federal college aid was 60-40. But today, it is jut the 
reverse--40-60. Pell grants, supplemental educational opportunity 
grants, and campus-based aid offer students and institutions the 
flexibility they need to help every student make college a reality. But 
by shortchanging these grants, we are shortchanging students--and 
shortchanging America too. I am hopeful that we will continue to 
support college opportunity programs in the Nation's public schools--to 
make sure that all children can see college as a realistic possibility 
for their own future. We need to give more students the tools and the 
will to rise out of poverty, and to enter the workforce with the 
ability that comes from a good education.
  Dr. Paige has an impressive background to help the nation meet all 
these challenges. He currently serves as superintendent of the Houston 
Independent School District. He has often been credited for turning the 
Houston schools around and raising education standards in the city. He 
was also dean of the College of Education at South Texas University, 
and he knows first-hand what it takes to bring qualified teachers into 
every classroom. He comes from a family of educators who share a deep 
commitment to helping all children do well. I look forward to working 
closely with Dr. Paige and President Bush in the coming years to meet 
these high priorities. I congratulate Dr. Paige on his nomination, and 
I urge the Senate to support his confirmation.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President. I rise to support the nomination of Dr. 
Roderick Paige as Secretary of Education. Education is ``the hub of the 
wheel'' of our society, founded as it is on the principle of equal 
opportunity. If we succeed in making our education system as good as it 
can be, there is no national priority that will not benefit. If we do 
not succeed, we leave things to change. So, I believe that Secretary of 
Education is one of the most, if not the most, important positions in 
the President's cabinet. Dr. Paige will succeed Secretary Riley, a 
remarkable man who has done a remarkable job promoting and improving 
education for eight years. I was happy to learn at Dr. Paige's hearing 
before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee of his 
close friendship with Secretary Riley, and also was happy, though not 
surprised, to read in the Washington Post on January 19, that Secretary 
Riley welcomed President Bush's choice of Dr. Paige.
  Dr. Paige comes to the Department of Education with outstanding 
credentials. He has extensive experience in elementary, secondary, and 
higher education. From 1994 until his selection as Secretary, Dr. Paige 
served as Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District. 
Prior to that, he served as the Dean of the College of Education at 
Texas Southern University. In recognition of his work in Houston, Dr. 
Paige was the 2000 National Alliance of Black School Educators' 
national Superintendent of the Year and is the Texas Association of 
School Administrators' nominee for 2001 National Superintendent of the 
Year. In 1999, he was one of the Council of Great City Schools' two 
Outstanding Urban Educators. To me, what is equally as heartening as 
all of Dr. Paige's experience and awards is his background. His father 
was a principal, his mother was a teacher and librarian, and all three 
of his sisters are educators. I also come from a family of educators. 
Three of my aunts, my sister, and my brother have devoted decades of 
their lives to teaching.
  As Dr. Paige said at his hearing, the virtues of faith and hard work, 
love of country, and the importance of the American dream that his 
parents instilled in their five children gave him the confidence to 
graduate from a segregated high school, to pursue higher education, and 
to serve his country in the Navy. When a person grows up in that kind 
of environment, I know that his commitment to education is heartfelt 
and deep. Finally, Dr. Paige's experience and commitment to education 
showed in his statement and answers to questions at his hearing. I was 
impressed by the breadth of his knowledge and his ability to respond on 
the spot to such a wide range of questions on so many aspects of 
education policy.
  Of course, my great respect for Dr. Paige's integrity and dedication 
does not mean that I have no concerns about positions that he has taken 
during his distinguished career. For example, Dr. Paige supported the 
use of public funds to pay private school tuition in Huston and 
supported that at his hearing, as well. There are approximately 53 
million children in elementary and secondary schools in the United 
States--approximately 48 million of those attend public schools. I 
think that voucher programs, although Dr. Paige chose not to use that 
term, divert much needed funds from our public schools. I also want to 
work with Dr. Paige to ensure that Federal funds continue to benefit 
low-income children. I don't question that most education decisions are 
and should be made at the State and local level, but excellence in 
education also is a national priority and the Federal government has a 
role to play. We provide only about seven percent of elementary and 
secondary school funding, but we play a very significant role in 
ensuring that groups that may have less of a voice in funding 
decisions, such as underprivileged students and their families, receive 
the resources they need, and I believe that we need to continue doing 
that.
  And I am concerned about President Bush's proposal to move Head Start 
from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of 
Education and change the program's focus to reading. I'm not out to 
defend

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anyone's bureaucratic turf. I'm interested in helping low-income 
children and their families, not from which building in Washington the 
program is administered. Since 1965, Head Start programs have provided 
comprehensive early childhood development, educational, health, 
nutritional, social, and other services to more than 17 million low-
income pre-school children and their families. Dr. Edward Zigler, one 
of Head Start's founders, said in the December 23, 2000 New York Times 
that the vast majority of three or four-year olds do not have the 
cognitive ability to ``attribute meaning to abstract symbols, like 
written words.'' He added that even the few three or four-year olds who 
do have that ability are better off spending their time in the Head 
Start learning behaviors needed in school, like listening, taking 
turns, and getting along with other children.
  Dr. Zigler said that what children need to be prepared to succeed in 
school are good health, the early involvement of their parents, and 
relief from the complications of poverty. That's exactly what Head 
Start provides. Of course, literacy is important, and Congress 
recognized that when we reauthorized Head Start in 1998--which we did 
in a very bipartisan manner. No one questions the importance of 
teaching children to read, but it's not as simple as providing more 
reading classes. A child won't benefit from reading classes alone is 
she hasn't eaten breakfast, or has an undiagnosed vision problem, or 
hasn't learned how to socialize with other children. Those kinds of 
benefits, which Head Start provides, are not ``add-ons'' to preparing a 
child to succeed in school, they are essential to it. As Dr. Zigler 
said, Head Start's job then, is to lay a foundation for literacy. So, I 
think we need to be cautious about changing a program that does so much 
good for so many children and families.
  But, that said, I have every confidence in Dr. Paige's qualifications 
and commitment to America's children. President Bush has spoken often 
of the need for bipartisanship in Washington. I have worked with many 
of my Republican colleagues for many years on education policy; for 
example, with Senator DeWine on the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, 
with Senator Domenici on character education, with Senator Jeffords on 
21st Century Community Learning Centers, and with Senator Shelby on 
commercialism in schools. I hope and expect that Dr. Paige and the 
Senate will be able to work together to build on the education 
accomplishments of the past 8 years, and to work toward the goal that 
we all share--that our children receive the education they need and 
deserve.