[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 26 (Thursday, March 1, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1725-S1727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LET NO NEVADA CHILD BE LEFT BEHIND

  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, Nevada's slogan is ``Battle Born.'' And 
Nevadans are proud to use that slogan. It is on our State flag. It 
reflects the firmness of purpose and the willingness to fight for what 
is right that is so much a part of the character of Nevadans. This is 
as true today as it was when our State entered the Union during the 
Civil War.
  I am humbled to stand here in this Chamber where many distinguished 
Nevadans have preceded me, giants like Pat McCarran, Alan Bible, Howard 
Cannon, Paul Laxalt, and the man I succeeded, Dick Bryan. None of them 
forgot the unique culture of the West and their Nevada roots. The 
nature of the challenges may have changed over the years, but not the 
nature of the Nevadans fighting to overcome them.
  In this era of globalization we are condemning our children, and our 
nation, to an uncertain future if we fail to confront a very different 
kind of threat--the intractable problems in our public schools.
  Let me share some troubling statistics with you. If you compare our 
children to their counterparts in other nations, the most academically 
advanced American high school seniors ranked 15 out of 16--second from 
the bottom--on an advanced math test and 16 out of 16 on an advanced 
physics test. This is unacceptable.
  Our public schools are failing our children. And unless we address 
this problem now--today--we will bear the consequences for a generation 
or more. Let's not forget: Today's students are tomorrow's leaders--in 
business, technology, engineering, government and every other field. If 
even the brightest of our young people cannot compete in the classroom 
with their colleagues abroad in math and science, how will they be able 
to compete with them as adults in the world of business? How can we 
expect them to develop into the innovators America needs to maintain--
and, yes, expand--her dominant role in the global marketplace?
  We need to make sure every single student in America graduates with 
the basic skills in communications, math, and information technology 
that are necessary to excel in the New Economy. As a nation, we simply 
cannot afford to accept the status quo.
  As a fourth generation Nevadan, I know the people of my State are up 
to the challenge of creating a better education system. But they need 
the Federal Government to get out of their way so they can do it. We 
need a results-based system, which gives States greater flexibility to 
spend Federal education dollars, while holding them accountable for 
student achievement.
  Today, Federal funds for States and local school districts are not 
linked to whether academic progress has been attained. The Department 
of Education simply doles out money in keeping with Washington-designed 
funding formulas and grant proposals. There is no

[[Page S1726]]

incentive for innovation, and no penalty for failure.
  President Bush wants to change this. He has proposed requiring 
federally funded annual reading and math testing in grades 3-8 to 
ensure student achievement and hold States accountable for the Federal 
money they receive. The test results will be the ruler by which the 
Department of Education can measure whether students are improving. 
These results will also provide parents with the information they need 
to track the progress of not only their own children, but of the 
schools their children attend.
  The question we are all struggling with is what to do if and when 
this new system reveals that a particular school is failing to 
successfully educate our children. Under President Bush's plan, if a 
school is shown to be failing after three years (based on objective 
measures of student achievement), then a voucher will be given to 
parents whose children attend that failing school. The parents will 
then have the power to say to school officials: Shape up--or my kids 
are shipping out.
  Now, I am certainly open to real alternatives to vouchers that are 
not driven by the anti-choice agenda of entrenched interests. However, 
I am not willing to sacrifice the well-being of individuals--our 
children--in order to preserve failing institutions. In my opinion, 
vouchers are an important part of the solution.
  But to those who oppose them, let me challenge you--parents, 
teachers, administrators, alike--to come up with a better system that 
accomplishes just two things: First, it holds schools accountable for 
failing our children; and second, it actually helps the students. 
Together, we must find a way to save our children from being condemned 
to a virtual prison of poor literacy and numeracy which constrains 
their ability to succeed.
  That means exploring all the options--from vouchers to charter 
schools--that can help level the playing field for our disadvantaged 
young people. For example, a new charter school will be opening in Las 
Vegas this fall--the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy--which 
will be committed to providing students access to technology on a daily 
basis.
  The principal, Mr. Wayne Tanaka, left Clark High School, my alma 
mater, to help found this revolutionary new academy. He did it because 
he believed this focus would provide underprivileged students with a 
chance to excel in the classroom. And if they excel in the classroom, 
then ultimately they will have the tools to excel in the 21st century.
  While I am pleased President Bush has proposed an 11-percent increase 
in funding for Federal education programs, I am concerned Nevada 
students will not be receiving their fair share of that increase. 
Currently, Nevadans get back only 41 cents for every dollar they send 
back to Washington, DC, for the education of their children. For years, 
this return has lagged behind nearly every State in the Union. It is 
just not right.
  The majority of Federal education dollars are allocated through Title 
I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under Title I, 
Nevadans received a little over $600 per eligible student in the year 
1999. Let's compare that to over $1,300 per student in Vermont.
  I ask my colleagues, is this fair? Is a disadvantaged student in 
Vermont that much more worthy of additional funds than a disadvantaged 
student in Nevada? Does this promote the idea of equal access to 
education?
  The theme of President Bush's education plan is ``no child left 
behind.'' But under the current system children are getting left behind 
in fast growing States such as Nevada, and the President's plan does 
not adequately address this problem.
  Nevada has grown by 66 percent over the last 10 years and shows no 
signs of slowing down. Under Title I, funding is based on the number of 
Title I students in each State, but the Department of Education updates 
these numbers only once every 4 years. And for Nevada, which has grown 
an average of 5 percent per year for the last 10 years, this has 
created an untenable situation.
  Nevada school enrollment is increasing at three times the national 
average, and Federal funds are not keeping pace. In Clark County, which 
is where Las Vegas is, we are forced to build one new elementary school 
a month just to keep pace with the explosive growth. It is for that 
reason I am speaking with the White House and a number of my colleagues 
about a new high-growth grant, which I hope to include in the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This grant will benefit all 
States with high growth rates, such as Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, 
Florida, North Carolina, and other States, so that we can give real 
meaning to the phrase ``no child left behind.''
  Mr. President, I need my colleagues to understand what the students, 
parents, teachers, and administrators are faced with in my home State 
of Nevada. Every time I speak with them, I hear, time and time again, 
that our State needs more of these Title I dollars. The high growth 
grant is a means to provide high-growth States much needed relief 
without directly adjusting the current funding formula.
  Ensuring that our children stay in school is one of my top 
priorities. I want to work with my colleagues on dropout prevention, 
particularly with the senior Senator from Nevada, who has been a leader 
on this issue. But what good does it do to keep young people in the 
classroom if they are not being taught the basics of civic virtue, such 
as citizenship, justice, fairness, respect, responsibility, and 
trustworthiness?
  In addition to dropout prevention programs, we must also promote 
character education programs that train our young people to be virtuous 
citizens.

  Our Nation's teachers are the key to solving many of our problems in 
our schools. And how can we require this of our teachers without the 
proper training or adequate pay?
  I am encouraged that President Bush's education plan includes a new 
commitment to professional development for teachers. This is critical 
to ensuring that our teachers are properly trained to teach our 
Nation's children.
  With all the talk about school construction and whether or not the 
Federal Government should or should not play a role in that activity, 
shouldn't we first ensure that our teachers are properly trained in the 
subjects they teach? Our math and science teachers need better training 
in math and science. Our reading and writing teachers need better 
training in reading and writing. It is that simple. We cannot expect 
our teachers to succeed in imparting knowledge to our children if our 
teachers are not properly trained in the areas they teach.
  Teachers and administrators must be permitted to take the necessary 
steps to restore order in the classrooms. The Federal Government can 
work with State and local school districts to ensure that teachers have 
the freedom to discipline violent and disruptive students without the 
fear of lawsuits.
  Our young people have a fundamental right to classrooms where they 
are free to learn and teachers are free to teach. That is denied them 
when a few chronically difficult children are allowed to poison the 
atmosphere, and teachers are left with no resources to stop them.
  We also need to end the cycle of social promotion. Social promotion 
forces teachers to deal with underprepared students while they try to 
teach the prepared. It gives parents a false sense of progress and 
leads employers to conclude that diplomas are literally meaningless. 
But above all, the practice of social promotion dumps poorly educated 
graduates into a society where they cannot perform in the workplace, 
nor care for their families, nor discharge their duties as citizens. It 
is not fair to those individuals who have been at the mercy of a flawed 
system, and it is not fair to their dependents and our society as a 
whole.
  I have been witness to the perils of social promotion. One of the 
heartbreaking experiences of my life was when I was sitting in a local 
library with a fourth grader who could not read Dr. Seuss's ``Cat in 
the Hat.'' This young boy, when he was 10 years old, could not read 
these lines:

       The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in 
     the house all that cold, cold, wet day.

  This child is one of the lucky ones. His problem was caught 
relatively early. He has since received help with basic reading and 
other academic and social skills, skills that he should have learned in 
the first, second, and third

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grades. He is 13 now, and he is doing better. He has worked hard and 
made progress. But despite his efforts, he is still struggling to catch 
up with his classmates because habits of social promotion shuffled him 
forward in a system before he was ready.
  If we expect our students to be able to compete in the global 
workforce, then we must provide them with the proper learning tools. 
Part of that answer lies in providing technology and the means to use 
it. Another part lies in better teacher training and higher teacher 
pay. Another part lies in holding failing schools accountable, and 
giving parents greater control over where and how education dollars are 
spent. And another part lies in more equitable funding. Together these 
individual answers create a solution.

  The 107th Congress has a unique opportunity to fundamentally change 
the Federal Government's role in education. I am not satisfied with the 
status quo, and neither are Nevada parents. After 36 years, the system 
is ripe for change. On behalf of Nevada families, I intend to press for 
that change.
  I know that Nevadans have a fighting spirit to make our schools the 
best in the country--a fighting spirit that has been passed on, 
starting with our settlers, from one generation to the next. Our 
battle-born State was formed by facing up to difficult challenges, and 
we are up for the challenge of making sure that when it comes to 
education, no child is left behind.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. I thank the Senator from Nevada.
  Under the previous order, the senior Senator from Nevada, Mr. Reid, 
is recognized for 5 minutes.

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