[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2352-E2353]
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. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2001

  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus 
(CHC), I am proud to support the Conference Report on H.R. 1, which 
reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). I am 
pleased that the conferees included most of the CHC's priorities in the 
final bill, which will now go a long way to reduce the disparities in 
educational achievement between Hispanic and non-Hispanic children.
  The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2030, Hispanic children 
will represent 25 percent of the total student population, and even the 
most recent Census figures show that Hispanics are now on pace to 
become the nation's largest minority sooner than expected. Given these 
statistics, and the likelihood that many of these students will come 
from low-income households, the reauthorization of ESEA has been a 
significant priority for the Hispanic Community. With appropriate 
funding, many of the programs in H.R. 1 that we helped shape will 
improve the educational achievement of low-income and limited English 
proficient children.
  I would like to share with my colleagues some of the important 
provisions affecting Hispanic students in H.R. 1 that the Hispanic 
Caucus helped develop. And in particular, I would like to thank my 
colleague, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, who has worked tirelessly on 
education issues in his capacity as Chair of the CHC Education Task 
Force. I do not believe we would be where we are today if it were not 
for his dedication to expanding academic opportunities.
  First of all, bilingual education programs are important to limited 
English proficiency (LEP) children because they build on native 
language proficiency to make the transition to all-English academic 
instruction. Without this foundation, many children will not be 
prepared to perform to high academic standards.
  H.R. 1 sets a ``trigger'' of $650 million at which bilingual 
education would convert from its current competitive grant structure to 
a new formula grant, consolidated along with immigrant education. This 
new formula, accompanied by a significant increase in appropriations, 
will extend bilingual education to millions of eligible students who 
currently do not receive bilingual education services.
  The Conference Report does not require parental consent before 
students are placed in bilingual education, even though opponents of 
bilingual education fought hard for this and included it in the 
original House version of this bill. Instead, the conference compromise 
continues to maintain the current ``opt-out'' system, favored by the 
Hispanic Caucus. Schools will be required to notify parents if their 
children are placed in bilingual education and parents will be given 
the information they need to immediately transfer their children to 
English-only classes, if they want. This system will ensure that LEP 
students are not deprived of services that will help them succeed 
academically, while giving parents flexibility and choice.
  It is estimated that 50,000 new bilingual education teachers are 
needed to meet the demands of a growing limited English proficient 
student population. At our insistence, H.R. 1 now includes a set-aside 
program for professional development to improve the qualifications of 
existing teachers and to recruit and train new teachers. The program 
will authorize two funding sources: one through the federal government 
and the other through the states.
  In an additional boost to improving teacher quality, the Conference 
Report retains a national clearinghouse for information and data on 
bilingual education. The compilation and distribution of this data 
provides important information to educators on how to improve the 
quality of bilingual education.
  Opponents of bilingual education favored placing a three year limit 
on how long students can be enrolled in bilingual education regardless 
of what level of English proficiency they reach. The CHC opposed this, 
recognizing that students entering the educational system at different 
stages acquire language proficiency at different speeds. The compromise 
bill gives students the flexibility to remain enrolled in bilingual 
education as long as is appropriate.
  As part of the compromise, the bill requires students to be tested 
for English reading proficiency after their third year in bilingual 
education. However, school districts can obtain a waiver on a case-by-
case basis to delay the test for two years. The results of the test 
will have no direct highstakes effects on individual students, but 
instead will be used to measure a school's progress and hold it 
accountable. If the school fails to meet performance objectives, it 
will be required to implement improvements including professional 
development and curriculum changes. These accountability measures 
promise to ensure that schools maintain effective bilingual programs.
  The second issue area in H.R. 1 that the Hispanic Caucus worked very 
hard to achieve results in was migrant education. Migrant students have 
unique educational needs because of their families' need to 
periodically relocate in order to maintain employment.
  The Conference Report expands education services for migrant students 
by increasing the authorized funding level of migrant education by $30 
million, from $380 million to $410 million for fiscal year 2002. While 
this funding level would fall short of meeting all existing needs, it 
is a significant step toward reversing the 11 percent decline in 
dollars spent per migrant pupil over the past two years.
  This bill also helps migrant students by improving the way their 
academic and health records are transferred from one school to another. 
Although some States have developed and implemented their own student 
records systems, current failures and interruptions in records transfer 
result in delays in school enrollment and academic services for migrant 
students, discrepancies in student placement, and repeat immunizations 
of migrant children. Under the Conference Committee agreement, the 
Secretary of Education is directed to assist states in linking existing 
systems of interstate migrant student records transfer. This will help 
eliminate two serious problems faced by migrant students: (1) multiple 
unnecessary vaccinations, which create a serious health hazard, and (2) 
denial of high school graduation because high school credit records are 
missing.
  Finally, the third issue area addressed by the Conference Report is 
high school dropout prevention. Addressing the dropout problem during 
this ESEA reauthorization has been of paramount importance to the CHC. 
Statistics show the dropout rate for Hispanic students is approximately 
30 percent compared to only 10 percent for non-Hispanic white students. 
For LEP students, the dropout rate is approximately 50 percent. At this 
rate, the economic and social potential of an entire generation of 
Americans is at risk.
  Students cite a variety of reasons for dropping out, such as the lack 
of qualified teachers, lowered expectations of minority students' 
academic potential, classes that fail to challenge them intellectually 
and the threat of ``tracking.'' Currently, there are a variety of 
programs which offer only piecemeal and inadequate solutions to the 
problem. The Conference Report takes a major step towards addressing 
the Hispanic dropout crisis by launching an innovative dropout 
prevention program that will comprehensively support proven measures to 
reduce high school dropout rates in schools predominantly serving low-
income students. I would like to express my thanks Senator Jeff 
Bingaman, who introduced the program in the Senate, and all the 
conferees, for including this dropout prevention program in the final 
conference report.
  In conclusion Mr. Speaker, I believe we are taking a great step for 
our children and our nation's future by passing this education reform 
bill. As President John F. Kennedy said, ``Our progress as a nation can 
be no swifter than our progress in education.'' While we

[[Page E2353]]

have more work to do to improve education, let us now appropriate 
sufficient funds to make the promise of H.R. 1 a reality, and be proud 
of what we have accomplished for our children's education in this 
session of Congress.

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