[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 25, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3913-S3914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          S. 1, BETTER EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ACT

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the subject of 
education, a subject about which we have been hearing a good deal in 
the past several months.
  I commend President Bush for putting forth a credible plan for 
education improvement. The Bush Administration has worked with 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to craft a policy compromise 
which will go along way to securing that all children have access to 
quality education. I also commend the distinguished Chairman of the 
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, HELP, Committee for his tireless 
work on this issue. As former chairman of the then Labor Committee, I 
know my friend from Vermont has a job roughly akin to herding cats.
  I also appreciate the Majority Leader's diligence and persistence in 
continuing to bring this measure up for Senate consideration and his 
efforts at brokering a compromise.
  President Bush has made it a priority to ensure that State and local 
education agencies have the discretion to make key decisions on how 
education dollars are spent. I support the President's approach. I have 
often said that we should not be second guessing on a federal level the 
ability of State and local school boards, educators and parents to 
direct the education of students.
  President Bush has made it a priority to link a reduction in the 
ridiculous amount of red-tape that State and local education agencies 
face with real accountability measures.
  Paperwork reduction is a decidedly pro-teacher priority, 80 percent 
of our nation's educators say that paperwork is their number one 
headache. Teachers just want to teach, not fill out forms or go to 
meetings required by federal regulations.
  The President has made yearly testing a priority and I commend him 
for that. In my State of Utah, we have already begun implementing an 
annual test. The Utah Performance Assessment System for Students, U-
PASS, requires a statewide criterion referenced test for all students, 
grades 1st through 12th in reading, language arts, and math. I am proud 
that, once again, Utah educators are ahead of the curve when it comes 
to education innovation and reform.
  I sincerely hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
will not stall, delay or prevent the reauthorization of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act, or as it is now called, BEST, the Better 
Education for Students and Teachers Act. We really need to pass this 
bill and set the country on a path toward meaningful education 
progress.
  The need for reform is great. A recent report from the National 
Center for Education Statistics, NAEP, concluded that reading scores 
for 4th and 12th graders failed to improve over their 1992 levels. This 
study also concluded that 58 percent of disadvantaged children in 4th 
grade scored at the ``below basic'' level.
  There also is an alarming disparity in skills between white students 
and African American students. According to the National Center for 
Education Statistics, achievement gaps between white and African-
American 9-year-old students have not narrowed since 1975. The score 
gap in reading narrowed to its lowest, 18 points in 1988, and has since 
widened to 29 points in 1999. For 17-year-old students, the gap in 
reading was also its lowest in 1988, 20 points and has since widened to 
31 points in 1999.
  Clearly, the challenge is before us. And yes, we can do better.
  Many local school districts are struggling. They are struggling with 
class sizes that are too large and school buildings that are too small 
or dysfunctional. They are struggling to provide books, materials, and 
equipment that are appropriate for the 21st century.
  They are struggling with resources, so they can pay their teachers 
better, increase professional development for educators, and provide 
essential music, art and sports opportunities for students as well. 
They are struggling with transportation needs, especially in many rural 
Utah communities where children can be bused as many as 100 miles 
round-trip a day.
  There is not a Senator in this body who doesn't want to help solve 
these problems. Certainly, I have been a long-time advocate of federal 
support for education, and I will continue to make that a top priority.
  I honestly believe that colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
sincerely and with good intentions want children to attend clean, safe 
schools with state of the art technology and teachers who are 
appreciated and well paid in reasonably sized classrooms and up-to-date 
textbooks.
  Sometimes, when the rhetoric gets too hot around these deeply felt 
issues, I think it would behoove us all to remember that no one gets 
elected to serve as an anti-education Senator.
  So, if we are all pro-education then why the debate? Because, of 
course, while we all agree on the merits of reform and we all want 
education progress, we disagree on the means to achieve this goal. We 
cannot afford to tie this bill up in partisan gridlock over a debate on 
how much funding to provide. Where there is a will, there is a way, and 
we simply have to find that way or we will be letting the American 
public down.
  While there are good intentions on all sides, some of my colleagues 
honestly feel that education policy is best met at the federal level 
and that the answer to every education challenge is a new federal 
program. Others of us have markedly differing views.
  I sincerely believe that State and local officials in Utah's 40 
school districts and 763 public schools are the best ones to decide 
whether or not to target federal money on school construction, 
technology improvements, hiring new teachers, or anything else.
  I trust the people of Utah to make these decisions. And, I believe 
Utahns are perfectly capable of debating these issues locally and 
choosing a course.
  I have repeatedly said that Utah does more with less than any State 
in the nation. Utah is a worst case scenario when it comes to school 
finance, yet we consistently rank highly on student performance 
measures. We must be doing something right!
  Actually, I think we are doing a lot that is right, and one of the 
things that Utah parents do right is spend a lot of time with their 
children. An integral part of Utah's way of life involves family-
centered activities. This clearly has spill-over benefits for schools.
  Utah can claim some well-deserved bragging rights. For example:
  Utah is first in the nation in both advanced placement participation 
and performance on a per capita basis.
  Utah's dropout rates are substantially lower than the nation's as a 
whole.
  In the Statewide Testing Program, the performance of Utah students on 
the Stanford Achievement Test exceeds national performance in 
mathematics, reading, science reasoning, and the composite score.
  Since 1984, Utah high school graduates have taken increasingly more 
rigorous programs of study with substantial increases in such areas as 
mathematics and foreign language.
  Utah is second in the nation in the percentage of its adult 
population holding a high school diploma.
  Utah has made a number of important commitments to advancing 
technology in education.
  Utah provides incentives for school districts to acquire technology 
infrastructure.
  Utah installs Internet connections at every school and pays most of 
the line charges.
  Utah has launched a number of professional development efforts.
  Utah provides in-service training opportunities and requires pre-
service teachers to complete a technology course as part of their 
preparation program.
  Utah parents are educated and informed and take an active role in 
educating their children. I firmly believe that this is one of the 
reasons why Utah students perform so well.
  But, what we need in my State is not a federal superintendent looking 
over the shoulder of our State-elected or locally elected school 
boards. We need additional resources, plain and simple. But, resources 
with so many strings attached bog us down. Give us the flexibility to 
manage these resources and apply them to the areas of greatest need in 
our State. Measure our children's educational progress. We will meet 
the challenge.

[[Page S3914]]

  I look forward to a challenging and informative debate. It is my 
sincere hope that we will be successful in crafting legislation which 
will genuinely put children first. Children are America's greatest 
asset, and our future depends on their educational excellence. We must 
ensure that no child is left behind. We must ensure that the 
achievement gap is closed between disadvantaged children and their 
peers. We must ensure that every child in this country is prepared for 
the challenges and opportunities that await them in the years to come. 
For it we fail, we have failed not only ourselves, but future 
generations.
  I am confident we are up to the task.

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