[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 7, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1985-S1986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAPO.
  S. 475. A bill to provide for rural education assistance, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Rural 
Education Initiative Act, which makes Federal grant programs more 
flexible in order to help school districts in rural communities. 
Serving to compliment President George W. Bush's education proposal, 
school districts participating in this initiative are expected to meet 
high accountability standards.
  Targeting only those school districts in rural communities with fewer 
than 600 students, this proposal reaches out to small, rural districts 
that are often disadvantaged through our current formula-driven grant 
system. There is tremendous need in rural states like Idaho because 
many of the traditional formula grants do not reach our small rural 
schools. And what money does reach these schools is in amounts 
insufficient for affecting true curriculum initiatives. In other works, 
schools may not receive enough funding from any individual grant to 
carry out meaningful activities.
  My proposal addresses this problem by allowing districts to combine 
funds from four independent programs to accomplish locally chosen 
educational goals. Under this plan, districts would be able to use 
their aggregate funds to support local or statewide education reform 
efforts intended to improve the achievement of elementary and secondary 
school students. I am asking for an authorization of $125 million for 
small rural and poor rural schools, a small price that could produce 
large results.
  Any school district participating in this initiative would have to 
meet high accountability standards. It would have to show significant 
statistical improvement in reading and math scores, based on state 
assessment standards. Schools that fail to show demonstrable progress 
will not be eligible for continued funding. In other words, this plan 
rewards success, while injecting accountability and flexibility.
  In reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ESEA, 
Congress has an extraordinary opportunity to change the course of 
education. We must embrace this opportunity by supporting creative and 
innovative reform proposals, like the one that I have introduced here 
today. I am committed to working in the best interest of our children 
to develop an education system that is the best in the world. The Rural 
Education Initiative moves us in the right direction and I hope my 
colleagues will join me in supporting this measure. I urge the Senate 
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to incorporate this 
provision into the upcoming ESEA bill.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
        Leahy, Ms. Mikulski, Mr.

[[Page S1986]]

        Reed, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Corzine):
  S. 476. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 to provide for a National Teacher Corps and principal recruitment, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I come to the Floor today to raise an 
issue that appears to be a foreshadowing national crisis. Every year we 
are losing more teachers than we can hire and many of our children are 
left in classrooms without full-time permanent teachers to lead them in 
the way that they need and deserve to learn.
  The teacher shortage in the United States is projected to reach a 
staggering 2.2 million teachers in the next ten years. And, these 
shortages have already begun for communities across my state as well as 
throughout the country. In New York, a third of upstate teachers and 
half of New York City teachers could retire within the next five years 
that's approximately 100,000 teachers across the State. In order to 
deal with these shortages, far too many of our schools are forced to 
hire emergency certified teachers or long-term substitutes to get 
through the year. I remember one story about a little girl in Far 
Rockaway, Queens who in March of last year had already had nine 
teachers so many she couldn't remember all of their names. Her mother 
was worried sick that her child was not getting the instruction she 
needed, but her mother felt powerless to do anything about the 
situation. And, at one school in Albany, the principal has to regularly 
fill-in for absent teachers because there are no substitutes available.
  The teacher shortage in New York State is only expected to get more 
dire in the next few years as more teachers retire. Now, in New York 
City, we know that many teachers decide to leave the City for better 
working conditions and higher salaries in the surrounding areas.
  Last week, we learned from the United Federation of Teachers in New 
York City that 7,000 teachers are expected to retire this year alone 
from the city's public schools. In Buffalo, 231 teachers retired last 
year, compared with an average of 92 in each of the preceding eight 
years. In addition, Buffalo lost 50 young teachers who moved on to 
other jobs or other school districts.
  Not only are we losing teachers, but principals are becoming more 
scarce as well. Many of our schools in New York City opened their doors 
this year without principals. In fact, New York City is expected to 
lose 50 percent of their principals in the next five years. That is 
just an unacceptable rate of attrition. We simply cannot afford to lose 
people who provide instructional leadership and direction to help 
teachers do their best every day.
  Mr. President, that's why I have chosen to focus on this issue so 
early in my term. And that is why I am proud to introduce the National 
Teacher and Principal Recruitment Act. My legislation will create a 
National Teacher Corps that can bring up to 75,000 talented teachers a 
year into the schools that need them the most. The National Teacher 
Corps can make the teaching profession more attractive to talented 
people in our society in several ways. One is by providing bonuses for 
mid-career professionals interested in becoming teachers. In this fast-
paced world, more and more people are changing career paths several 
times during their working lives. A financial bonus plan can help 
attract people from other professions.
  The National Teacher Corps will also make more scholarships available 
for college and graduate students, and create new career ladders for 
teacher aides--to become fully certified teachers. And it will ensure 
that new teachers get the support and professional development they 
need both to become--and remain--effective teachers.
  This bill will also create a national teacher recruitment campaign to 
provide good information to prospective teachers about resources and 
routes to teaching through a National Teacher Recruitment 
Clearinghouse.
  And, finally, the bill will create a National Principal Corps to help 
bring more highly qualified individuals into our neediest schools. Like 
the Teacher Corps, the Principal Corps will be focused on attracting 
good candidates and providing them with the mentorship and professional 
development they need to succeed.
  I am introducing this bill to make sure that all teachers who step 
into classrooms and all principals who step into leadership in their 
schools have the expertise, the knowledge, and the support they need to 
meet the highest possible standards for all of our children, who 
deserve nothing less.
  Now, if a community were running short of water, a state of emergency 
would be declared and the National Guard would ship in supplies 
overnight. If a community runs short of blood supplies, the Red Cross 
stages emergency blood drives to ensure that patients have what they 
need. Our communities are running short of good teachers and 
principals, and they are as important to our children's future as any 
other role that I can imagine. That's what makes it so important for us 
to act now.
  Providing good teachers and principals to schools is a local issue, 
but it should be a national concern. And to have a partnership with our 
governors and our mayors, our school superintendents and others is a 
way that will really help us begin to address this crisis. I hope that 
all of us on both sides of the aisle and in the public and private 
sector will join together to make sure we have the supply of teachers 
that we need. It certainly is the most important public activity any of 
us can engage in, and it's important to our nation's values as well as 
our individual aspirations for our children. And I hope that we will 
find support for doing something to work with our states and localities 
to meet this crisis.
                                 ______