[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 29184]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                               EDUCATION

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, this week as we get down to the wire on 
budget negotiations, I rise to speak on behalf of education, our 
children, and the classroom as the priority in this country.
  More teachers is a great idea. I applaud it. However, more teachers 
may not be the immediate or only need in some of our school districts. 
Some schools may need better teacher quality, they may need teacher 
training, teacher improvement. Some may need books and equipment, 
supplies. The list goes on.
  The funding levels that we have been discussing are not at odds here. 
This is a question of who knows best, Washington bureaucrats, or local 
teachers and principals in the local public school classroom.
  The President's goal may be noble enough, but his means of achieving 
it are flawed. Who can argue with the fact that local control is the 
best means by which we can truly support our schools? Let us empower 
our students, our teachers, with the tools that they need to take our 
kids to the next step of the learning process. Let us give our local 
schools more flexibility, more local control when we send this money 
back to the classroom.

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