[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 23, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S434-S436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, we have a new President of the United States 
who has proven in his own State of Texas and in his life--and with the 
encouragement of his wife--that he really cares about education and 
that he means it when he says we should leave no child behind.
  We need an education system in America that is focused on one thing, 
and that is children learning. I am convinced he means that. I have had 
occasion to hear him talk about that in Texas, on the campaign trail, 
after the election, and even yesterday in the first meeting, when the 
bicameral Republican leadership met with the President, that was his 
focus. He made it clear he was going to reach out to the Congress, both 
Republicans and Democrats, and to outsiders to try to get a consensus 
as to how we want to move our country. But the issue he focused on was 
education.
  I believe that is going to be well received by the American people. 
People of all backgrounds, races, creeds, color, regions know that for 
continued advancement for the American culture, education and improving 
education is absolutely critical.
  He continues to focus on this issue. This morning he met with the 
leaders of the appropriate committees to talk about his proposal that 
he is going to send to us today. I have spoken to a couple of those who 
attended that meeting, including Senator Jeffords. A moment ago, when 
the Senator from Vermont, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions Committee, spoke, I felt there was an exuberance in him 
about the fact that this President is opening his administration the 
way he said he would, and in the Senate we are picking up that mantle. 
The bill that will carry the number S. 1 is going to be about 
education.
  Today the President of the United States will keep his promise to 
America's schoolchildren. He will articulate for the Nation a vision of 
America, a public school system that serves the children and leaves no 
child behind.
  I think it is important also that he is not going to send us a bill 
drafted with every word, every dot and comma, but he is going to lay 
out the provisions, the major points he intends to pursue, and he is 
asking us to pursue it legislatively in the Congress.
  Under President Bush, our public schools can and will be doorways to 
opportunity. In Texas, he has proven that every child, particularly our 
disadvantaged children, can excel. As President, he will bring that 
same determination to all of our Nation's children.
  The President proposed we apply commonsense principles to promote 
results. He also has picked an outstanding nominee to be Secretary of 
Education, and now he is the Secretary of Education, Dr. Rod Paige. By 
the way, I should note he is a native Mississippian. He grew up with a 
very blue-collar upbringing. He attended public schools. He got a good 
education. He was the head coach at Jackson State University in 
Jackson, MS, a university that has produced some outstanding academic 
leaders and athletic leaders in this country. Some of the most 
outstanding football players in the history of this country came out of 
Jackson State University.
  He went beyond that. He got his postgraduate degrees. He got his 
doctorate, and then he went to the Houston, TX, school system, a school 
system that had all kinds of problems, that was deteriorating, 
declining, and he said: We are going to make this place work. We are 
going to provide different ideas, innovative ideas, and he produced 
results. Now he is going to be the Nation's Secretary of Education. 
Here again is a man who has shown the American dream is alive and well. 
When you look at his humble beginnings and what he did in terms of 
getting an education in public schools, at Jackson State University, 
and then getting his postdoctorate degrees and now is Secretary of 
Education, it is a tremendous testament to what can be done.

  Our schools should be measured by what our children learn. I have 
said on this floor many times that I am the son of a schoolteacher, a 
lady who taught school for 19 years. I am very proud of it. She still 
corrects my grammar when I use the wrong word, the wrong tense in my 
weekly columns or when she hears me speak. If I speak improperly, she 
will mark my paper in red or chastise me. I am proud of that.
  Unfortunately, like a lot of teachers, after 14 years she left and 
went into bookkeeping and even radio announcing because she could make 
more money. That is a tragedy, too. At the local and State level, we 
have to make sure we pay our people a livable wage so they will stay in 
teaching and not go out into other places and get more money but maybe 
not much reward in terms of what they actually produce.
  I went to public schools all my life. So did my wife and so did my 
children. I remember distinctly the best teachers I ever had in my life 
were my teachers in the second, third, and fourth grades at Duck Hill, 
MS. Those teachers affected my life. They taught me the basics. They 
taught me to read.
  By the way, I stayed in touch with two of the three all my life. One 
of them now is deceased. One of them I still hear from every now and 
then. They came from a small poor school, but they made a difference in 
my whole life, more than my college professors, more than my high 
school teachers.
  We have to make sure we have that for every child in America.
  No child--no child--in America should be trapped in failing schools 
just because they lack the economic means to have a choice or to make 
sure they do get a good education.
  We have to be prepared to think outside the box. What we have been 
doing is not working in every school. Some schools are fantastic. In my 
own State, we have some great schools. We have students who make 
tremendous test scores on the ACT and SAT, and yet we have schools 
where children are just not getting a quality education. They are not 
learning. They are not safe. They are in danger from all kinds of 
things in these schools. So we have to keep the good ones good and make 
them even better, but we have to make sure those other schools can be 
brought up. That is a local responsibility, a State responsibility.

  But, yes, the Federal Government has a role to play. There are many 
things we can do to be helpful in that area. The President's proposals 
will help us address that. The fact that he is willing to put money--
and a significant amount of money--into children learning to read, that 
is a beginning, that is where it all starts.
  We have one couple in my State of Mississippi who have been 
remarkably successful in their lives: Jim Barksdale and his wife Sally, 
from Jackson, MS. They went to the University of Mississippi. Jim 
Barksdale worked with FedEx. He worked with McCaw Telephone in 
Washington State. He is one of the founders of Netscape who made a lot 
of money, and now he is on the board of AOL Time Warner. He and his 
wife just gave $100 million--$100 million--of personal money, the two 
of them, for one thing, and only one thing, in my State--4th grade 
reading. The State said, OK, can we join in on this? And others said, 
no, we want this to be focused on teaching those 4th grade students to 
read. That is the kind of thing happening with individuals in the 
private sector. They have a responsibility to help with education, too.
  So we need to really build on that. Parents have a right to hold 
schools to high standards and know that their

[[Page S435]]

schools are meeting those high standards. Our children excel when they 
are exposed to basics, going back to the points I made about reading. 
Our early childhood programs should focus on reading first, and we 
should not be afraid to measure those programs to make sure they are 
succeeding and not merely just good-intentioned programs that do not 
produce results.
  Also, character counts. There is a program called Character Counts in 
America. I think we need to incorporate that in how we teach. We should 
never shy away from teaching that basic lesson to our students.
  These basic principles work. They have worked in Texas, they have 
worked in other parts of the country, and they have formed the 
cornerstone of the President's education initiatives.
  Under Governor Bush, African American 4th grade students have made 
the largest gains in the country in math and science. In fact, they had 
the highest test scores in their peer group of any State in the Nation. 
Hispanic students have made similar gains, scoring second highest of 
Hispanics in all States. We can and should do the same thing for all of 
America's children.
  The President's education plan is based on a simple premise: Those 
who know our children best--parents, teachers, and principals--should 
determine how to prioritize our education dollars. The needs in rural 
America are often left out, and they are quite different from those in 
our cities. It makes sense that local schools have the freedom to 
design programs that meet individual needs. The compulsion in 
Washington has always been to have one size that fits all which they 
dictate from Washington.
  What is needed in Pascagoula, my hometown, is obviously, on its face, 
different from what they need in Pittsburgh, PA. So we need that local 
flexibility, that local control, and with accountability that goes 
along with it. In exchange for that freedom, the President proposes to 
hold States accountable for the one thing that matters, and that is to 
make sure our children are learning.
  There are many special interests in education. Many of them will 
raise their voices against the President's plan. They will use tactics 
to try to distract from what we are trying to accomplish by advocating 
other things and new programs. I think we need to go with what works 
and to make sure the only interests that matter are the interests of 
our children and that they are learning.
  I believe this commonsense approach will form the kind of principles 
that can improve our education in America. I believe we can, in this 
area, reach bipartisan agreement. We tried mightily last year, and 
there was a lot of effort across the aisle from our education leaders, 
good men such as Paul Coverdell, who is not with us, and Slade Gorton, 
who will not be serving in the Senate. Joe Lieberman was involved in 
that effort. We can have Republicans and Democrats who can come 
together on this because what President Bush is proposing is not 
Republican or Democrat; it is what has worked and what will work.
  So I invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let's engage in 
this issue. Let's move this bill. I hope the HELP Committee will have 
the necessary hearings to think about what we are going to do, but do 
not delay. Do not delay. Every day that goes by that we do not act in 
this area, another child is not getting the education he or she needs. 
They are in a school that is not safe or a school that is drug 
infested.
  This could be one of the most exciting things we do in the next 2 
years. I appreciate the fact that the President has shown his 
commitment. He is going do be dogged. He is going to be focused. We are 
going to get this done. And the children will be the beneficiaries now, 
and the country will be the beneficiaries for years to come.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Chair recognizes 
the Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, let me join in the bipartisan chorus of 
voices here on the floor this morning speaking about education reform 
and the package that President Bush will be sending us for our 
examination and consideration in the coming days. I say a chorus of 
bipartisan voices. Every Senator who serves in the Senate recognizes 
and is willing to dedicate time to the importance of education in our 
Nation, and especially to the improvement of our public educational 
system.
  Are there differences? Sure, there are differences. Historically, 
many of our colleagues simply wanted to send money, wanted to send it 
down from the Federal level, arguing that money was the problem; that 
if enough was sent, it would resolve the issue. A good many of us have 
said: Now, wait a moment. There has to be some control and some 
measurement, some evaluation of achievement. Or is the money being 
spent in the right way? Is enough control being given at the State and 
local level?
  Over the years, while the Federal Government has participated, it 
really has participated in a fairly limited way in the public education 
systems of our country. For every dollar that is spent on the ground in 
Idaho or Mississippi or Texas or Illinois, only about 7 or 8 cents of 
that dollar has been a Federal amount.
  What George Bush brings to us today is an attempt to recognize what 
most Americans have already recognized and spoke to him about in the 
campaign. That is that our educational system is in need of improvement 
and in need of reform. And probably out of opinions from that side of 
the aisle and this side of the aisle, there is a strong common ground 
to allow that kind of improvement and reform to go forward.

  For the last decade, the chorus has not necessarily been here, but it 
has been broad and across America where our citizens have been saying: 
Something is wrong; our children are not achieving at the levels they 
should. They are not safe in their schools. There is a level of 
disruption that does not produce the kind of environment where quality 
education can go forward.
  Hopefully, in the days to come, we will be able to craft a package, 
working with our President, to achieve what most Americans want for 
their children, recognizing, as all of us do, that in the absence of a 
high-quality public education system, the very character of our Nation, 
that must be perpetuated and brought forward from generation to 
generation, begins to lose. If that happens, America loses. In the end, 
we are a lesser nation because our children--our young people and our 
future leaders--are simply not as prepared as they must be to compete 
amongst themselves and to compete in the world as we know it.
  That is the issue George Bush challenges us with today. He speaks of 
putting money in for reading, but he also speaks of accountability. He 
turns that accountability back to the States and to the local 
communities and says: Prove your worth and we will help you. Good 
schools will improve and bad schools will work to improve, but for bad 
schools that will not recognize their failing, we will give parents and 
students the option to move elsewhere.
  Now, public education is a monopoly. It always has been one. Many of 
the educators within that system want to keep it just that way. They do 
not want to have to measure up against the private sector or another 
school down the road. If you live in that school district, you are 
required to attend that school. What George Bush is saying is, not 
necessarily. So you do not have to be a prisoner within the educational 
system. If the educational system is going to educate, then the parent 
and the student--if they are not getting the quality of education they 
want--ought to be allowed and ought to be given the means to move to 
another school where that quality education exists.
  Of course, there will also be consequences for success, not just for 
failure. If schools improve overall student achievement, they will be 
rewarded with special grants and bonuses.
  Other key components of this plan will go a long way towards 
improving our schools. These components include increases in federal 
funding for literacy programs, the strengthening of math and science 
education, and the cutting of bureaucracy to make it easier for schools 
to upgrade their technology.
  This bill would also help the States improve education by giving them 
more freedom in administering federal education dollars.
  Federal education programs will be consolidated, thus reducing the 
red tape and allowing more flexibility at the local level.

[[Page S436]]

  President Bush's proposal also expands the amount of money that can 
be put into tax-free education savings accounts. Parents are a key 
component of any education reform, and President Bush realizes that 
without empowering them, little can be done.
  In short, the President's plan provides the right blend of parental 
empowerment, local flexibility, federal funding, and accountability.
  If enacted, this plan will go a long way towards giving every child 
in America a chance to truly succeed.
  There are a lot of issues to be dealt with in the coming days. A good 
deal of compromise is to be made. But I am extremely excited that our 
President, President Bush, is leading with this issue. Clearly, there 
is no question in our country it is a major issue, and a major issue of 
importance for all of us, but most importantly for the future of our 
country.
  Mr. President, other colleagues have come to the floor and wish to 
speak, and we are operating under a unanimous consent agreement. So let 
me, with that, conclude my remarks and, in so doing, say I am excited 
that we have the opportunity to work together on this issue and to 
prove to Americans that education is the No. 1 priority of the 
Congress.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Chair recognizes 
the Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from 
Arkansas, who has the great name Senator Hutchinson.
  PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from Arkansas for 
5 minutes, under the previous order.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. I thank the Chair, and thank the Senator from Texas 
for her leadership on education, and for having a good name, and for me 
having a name similar to it.
  I applaud President Bush for his commitment to education in unveiling 
a very serious and comprehensive education reform program today. It is 
an education package that, if enacted in its entirety, I believe, will 
ensure that no child in America will be left behind . . . That should 
be our goal.
  One of the wonderful aspects of what President Bush is now doing is 
to help us redefine what success is in education. For too long, success 
has been defined by: How much do we spend? President Bush wants to 
redefine that as to how much children are learning. That should be the 
criteria for whether or not we are succeeding in education.
  His proposals represent an excellent framework for moving forward, 
and moving forward quickly, on a bipartisan basis, with legislation in 
Congress. I call on my colleagues to have an open mind on this 
education package and allow us to work together to achieve these goals.
  Among other things, he seeks to address the problem of failing 
schools. Federal support, under his plan, will be provided, augmenting 
State funds, to help schools that need improvement. States and 
districts will be expected to implement serious reforms in schools that 
continue to fail.
  All children in America deserve to have the chance for a quality 
education. In order to achieve that, there must be real consequences 
for schools that are persistently dangerous or are not improving after 
serious reform efforts for 3 years.
  Under the Bush plan, if a school cannot achieve success in 3 years, 
with additional help from the Federal Government, then we ought to give 
those parents the chance to get those children out of the failing 
school. No child should be left behind because of where he or she lives 
or because of the financial standing of his or her parents. So I think 
this is a wonderful hallmark of the Bush plan.
  Under the Bush plan, success is rewarded; failure is sanctioned. 
States, districts, and schools that narrow the achievement gap and 
improve overall student achievement will be rewarded, and States that 
fail to make progress may lose a portion of their administrative funds.
  If we are to change education in this country, there must be 
consequences to failure. We must close that gap between the high 
achieving and the low achieving. That was the goal of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act. The Bush plan provides a whole new area of 
flexibility, much less of the prescriptive, top-down categorical grant 
programs--over 60 of them--that tie the hands of local educators. The 
Bush plan would reduce that to a few streams of funds and provide new 
flexibility for local educators.
  As you can tell, Mr. President, I am quite enthused about what we 
have the opportunity to do for the education of American children. As a 
member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, 
I look forward to working with President Bush and with my colleagues in 
the Senate to pass meaningful education legislation.

  This issue is a priority. It is President Bush who deserves the 
credit for making it a priority. It is time to put partisan politics 
aside and to work to ensure that every child in America receives a 
quality education, and that no child is left behind.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
recognized for up to 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair has been and will be very protective 
of the time on Tuesdays, but since the Senator has been here the entire 
morning, I will not object.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I know this is a difficult time to be presiding, but I 
did want to finish the discussion of the education proposal that is 
being put forth by President Bush.
  We have had several speakers this morning talk about the importance 
of addressing education as the first priority of our new President, 
George W. Bush. I think you can tell from the debate that Congress is 
ready to go on this issue.
  We have been looking for accountability and flexibility in the 
Federal role in education since I came to Congress, and probably since 
Strom Thurmond came to Congress, because we know the difference between 
America and most other countries in the world is that we value every 
child getting a quality education. So we know that public education is 
the route that every child must take to succeed in life.
  If we fall down in public education, we will see the crumbling of the 
foundation of democracy in America. That is why President Bush is 
putting this as a first priority, and why Congress is going to work 
with him to do it.
  I think what President Bush is talking about is exactly the right 
approach--that we are going to give incentives for creativity, for 
flexibility, that we are going to go for every child to have the best 
education that we can potentially give that child.
  But we are not going to sit back and say that year after year after 
year, if a public school fails, we are going to keep pouring money into 
that failing school and leave those children at risk. That is what we 
are saying. We are saying if a school fails for 3 straight years, we 
are going to empower parents and school districts and States to say 
there is an alternative and we are going to let you look at the options 
and select another alternative for your child.
  That is the bottom line of what we are talking about today. So we are 
going to put a lot more money from the Federal level into public 
education. We are going to give our schools every chance to succeed, 
and we are going to help them succeed. But, Mr. President, this is 
accountability that we are going to put into the system because we are 
not going to let a child be left behind because all the bureaucrats and 
the politicians in Washington are talking about accountability but not 
deciding what it is. We are going to decide in the next few months what 
it is and we are going to set a standard and we are going to require 
that standard be kept.
  That is what President Bush is doing. Congress is going to work with 
him to do it. I applaud the President, and I am anxious to work with 
him to make sure that every child has the ability to reach his or her 
full potential with a public education in our country.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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