[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 177 (Wednesday, December 19, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1, NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2001

  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I want to praise President Bush for putting 
forth an education plan that offered children in failing schools a 
chance to get a better education. It is too bad that Democrats and 
supporters of the failing status quo were allowed to gut the 
legislation, H.R. 1, at the Committee level to remove any chance for 
failing schools to successfully improve their performance or to let 
parents have the option to move their children to better schools.
  I believe that control of education should be retained at the local 
level. Last year, Illinois high school students led the nation in 
Advanced Placement scores. With a few exceptions we have good schools 
in the 8th District, and I don't want to force parents, school boards, 
and teachers into a one-size fits all approach that might work in New 
York City or Atlanta but not in Barrington or Wauconda.
  One of the reasons I supported broad-based tax relief, including 
eliminating the marriage tax penalty and doubling the child tax credit, 
is because it lets 70,000 married couples and families with 125,000 
children in the 8th District of Illinois keep $162 million per year in 
their pockets. That is $162 million per year that families could spend 
in our district on education if they chose to do so.
  Former President Ronald Reagan, in a March 12, 1983 radio address to 
the nation on education, said, ``Better education doesn't mean a bigger 
Department of Education. In fact, that Department should be abolished. 
Instead, we must do a better job teaching the basics, insisting on 
discipline and results, encouraging competition and, above all, 
remembering that education does not begin with Washington officials or 
even State and local officials. It begins in the home, where it is the 
right and responsibility of every American.''
  When we send a dollar to the federal government from Illinois, we 
only get 75 cents back. In my district, we send more than $2 to 
Washington and only get $1 back. With a return like this, it is easy to 
see why I support letting taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned 
money and having parents decide locally how their money should be spent 
on education.
  Federal education funding is at an all-time high, and H.R. 1 
increases it by a huge amount. Yet, student achievement continues to 
lag. Most Republicans in Congress want to give local schools more 
freedom to use new models to solve old problems while maintaining high 
accountability standards. I am saddened that H.R. 1 does not accomplish 
this worthy goal.
  One concept that has strong support from parents is President Bush's 
proposal to improve public education by testing children in reading and 
math in grades three through eight once each year. Under President 
Bush's proposal, schools would be held accountable for either improving 
scores or losing their federal money, which accounts for seven cents of 
every education dollar.
  I fully support this provision and am gratified it has been included 
in the conference report before us today. In fact, during debate on 
H.R. 1 in May of this year, I voted against the amendment co-sponsored 
by Congressmen Peter Hoekstra and Barney Frank to remove President 
Bush's test requirement from the bill. The tough new testing regimen 
designed to identify failing public schools--an idea at the heart of 
President Bush's education plan--survived when the amendment failed. 
But the rest of the President's plan to give local schools more control 
to make the changes necessary to improve and to give parents the option 
to move their children to a better private school were stripped out of 
the bill.
  For the reasons I have outlined, I have decided to vote against H.R. 
1. Again, I want to praise President Bush for his leadership in 
proposing creative solutions to improving the education of our 
children. I encourage him to continue to move the federal government 
out of the way and to give schools more tlexibility and parents more 
choices for their children.




                          ____________________