[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 171 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5070-S5071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               EDUCATION

  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, we have an issue in Louisiana--I 
wouldn't call it a problem--that I would like to talk about. Perhaps 
some of our sister States can learn from our struggles in my State. And 
the issue is education. I can't think of a more important subject. That 
is the future of my State. I think it is true in many other States.
  I believe that Louisiana's future can be better than its present or 
its past, but the key to determining whether that is going to be the 
case or not is education--and I am talking specifically about 
elementary and secondary education--because that is what counts. In my 
State, it is not the price of oil; it is not what the unemployment rate 
is; it is not who the United States Senator is; it is not who the 
Governor is; it is education, pre-K through 12.
  It is frustrating, I know. You know, Americans can do extraordinary 
things. We can unravel the human genome. We can take a diseased human 
heart and replace it with a brandnew one and make that thing beat. We 
can send a person to the Moon. But we in America struggle and we in 
Louisiana struggle to teach our children how to read and write and do 
basic math when we have 18 years to do it. I am not blaming anyone. We 
all share the frustration. And it is not just Louisiana; it is all 
across America. I understand that.
  But decades ago in Louisiana, we made a decision. In fact, it was 
during my first job in government. I was working as legal counsel to a 
brandnew, reform Governor in Louisiana. He decided, and the people 
of Louisiana agreed with him--we all agreed on two things: No. 1, every 
child can learn. Now, it takes some a little bit longer. Kids mature at 
different times. But every child can learn. The second thing we agreed 
on was this: That which is measured gets done. That which is measured 
gets done.

  We decided to implement, 30 years ago, standards for our elementary 
and secondary schools. One of those standards was and I think still 
is--that is the subject of my remarks today; I hope it still is--a 
graduation exam. We call it our Graduation Exit Examination 21, G-E-E. 
So if I say ``G-E-E'' or ``GEE,'' I am talking about our graduation 
exam.
  We said we are going to get serious about kids. We can't have our 
children graduate if they can't read their diploma, and so we are going 
to test them. The test is not terribly rigorous. It is four subjects. 
It is English, it is math, it is science, and it is social studies. We 
grade those exams--and you don't have to pass all four. You have to 
pass English and math and then either social studies or science. So, 
really, three out of four.
  There are five different grades: advanced, mastery, basic, 
approaching basic, and unsatisfactory. Let me tell you what that really 
means: A, B, C, D, and F.
  You only have to make a D on your graduation examination. You only 
have to make a D to pass--not an A, not a B, not a C, a D. So you take 
four exams. You have to make a D on English, a D on math, and at least 
a D on either social studies or science. If you don't pass, we will 
give you another chance, but you have to pass to get a diploma.
  Now our Board of Elementary and Secondary Education--we call it 
BESE--which governs elementary and secondary education in Louisiana, 
has decided to take us back to the Dark Ages. By a one-vote margin, 
supported, quite frankly, by my Governor, who is lameduck--he will be 
leaving soon--he makes three appointments to the Board of Elementary 
and Secondary Education. Everybody in America is entitled to their 
opinion, but I think my Governor and his team are wrong on this. They 
are going to send us back to the Dark Ages.
  Here is the new rule: You have to pass the Graduate Exit Examination 
in the way I just described--unless you fail. Then you have to go to 
your teacher, and he or she can give you an extra-points project. Come 
on. Come on. Who are we kidding here?
  Now, why do some want to do this? It is not the kids who want to do 
this; it is the adults, because not only do we grade our kids, we grade 
our schools, and if schools have kids who don't pass the GEE, the 
Graduate Exit Examination, it counts against the grade of the school. 
So this is all coming from the adults. They are putting themselves 
first, and they are not putting the kids first.
  This is a massive step backward. This is an announcement to the rest 
of America that Louisiana has given up, that our kids are not smart 
enough, they are not good enough, even when we give them second or 
third chances, to be able to get a D on the Graduate Exit Examination, 
and as a result, we have to give them a special extra-points project so 
they can get a diploma that is not really a diploma.
  The people behind this ought to hide their head in a bag. Our kids 
are better than that. Every one of my kids in Louisiana can learn. 
Sometimes they need a little bit longer. But it is not going to do them 
any good to give them a diploma that they can't read. It is not going 
to do them any good to give them a diploma that the rest of America 
and, frankly, the world is going to look at and go: That is not really 
a high school diploma because we know you failed the exam. You just got 
an extra-points project so the adults wouldn't look bad.
  I am embarrassed by this.
  This isn't the only problem we have in elementary and secondary 
education. I will give you one other statistic. Seventy percent of our 
high schools are graded A or B. Forty percent of the schools below that 
are graded A or B. Seventy percent of my high schools in Louisiana are 
not A or B

[[Page S5071]]

schools, OK? I wish they were--not when 40 percent of the lower grades 
are only A or B. Once again, the adults who don't want to be 
embarrassed are inflating those grades, too, and now they have started 
on the Graduate Exit Examination. But this is a bridge too far.
  All is not lost. BESE, which, as I said, passed this rule change by 
one vote--and by the way, our superintendent of education was against 
it.
  This rule change is going in front of the Louisiana Legislature for 
an oversight hearing and the Senate Education Committee and the House 
Education Committee. I hope that either the Senate or House and 
hopefully both will say no--no--because this change represents what 
George Bush, President Bush, called ``the soft bigotry of low 
expectations''--``the soft bigotry of low expectations.'' It has no 
place in this country, and it has no place in my State.
  I am embarrassed that the people who are part of the education 
establishment in Louisiana are telling the rest of the world: Our kids 
are not good enough. They can't learn. So we are going to give them a 
diploma that is not really a diploma.
  Thank you for the time today, Madam President. I wanted my colleagues 
to know what is going on in Louisiana. We are going to turn this rule 
back, and we are going to put our kids first in Louisiana, not the 
adults.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. ROSEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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