[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3835]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP ACT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, in a short while we will begin the debate 
again on the Ed-Flex bill that has been on the floor for the last 
several weeks. It is a bipartisan bill. Democrats and Republicans alike 
are supporting this bill. It is a simple bill, essentially, that will 
allow some of our school districts to be more flexible with their 
education dollars; for the liability for some of the waivers to be 
transferred from the Department of Education directly to the Governors, 
so the Governors in our States can provide some of the waivers based on 
some specific clauses that are in the bill. Essentially, it is a matter 
of paperwork being moved from the Nation's Capital to the Governors' 
desks. It is a bill, again, that is supported broadly.
  I have come to the floor numerous times over the last week to talk 
about an amendment which I hope to offer today regarding class size 
reduction. A year ago, the President talked about the most important 
goal in education, one of the most important goals we have--that of 
reducing class size in grades 1 through 3. Studies have shown us 
consistently that reducing class size in those grades makes a 
tremendous difference in the learning of young children--in their math, 
reading, language scores, and in their ability to go on to college. It 
improves discipline problems, as shown by numerous studies that I, 
again, hope to be able to talk about once my amendment comes to the 
floor.
  We talked about this amendment all last year during the session. 
Then, in a bipartisan bill last October, in the budget process we 
passed the beginning phase of reducing class size and began a 
commitment to this country that we would help our schools across this 
country begin to reduce class sizes in grades 1 through 3, where it 
makes a difference. It was a bipartisan effort last year. It should be 
a bipartisan effort this year.
  This is a critical issue right now in this country, today, where 
school boards across our country are looking for whether or not we just 
made some kind of political offering last October, right before the 
elections, or whether we really meant it when we said we were going to 
join with our schools across this country in this commitment to reduce 
class size.
  It is extremely timely that this Senate go on record right now with a 
commitment to our school districts, to let them know that we are there 
for them, that this wasn't just a fly-by-night political operation in 
October, it was a commitment from us at the Federal level to work hand 
in hand with schools across this country to begin to reduce class size. 
My amendment will authorize this program for the next 6 years. It is 
extremely important, because our school boards right now are putting 
their budgets together. They are determining what kind of money they 
will have.
  They want to know, is this real or is this not, because they begin 
right now the process of hiring teachers to begin next fall. They do 
not want to hire a teacher, find out we did not really mean it last 
October, and make that commitment. They want to know whether we stand 
there ready, confirmed, and committed to this process. That is why it 
is so critical that we go on the record now with the class size 
authorization bill.
  I hope to offer that today. I am looking forward to working with my 
Republican colleagues, again, in a bipartisan effort to let our school 
boards know we are with them in this critical process. We will 
obviously have other times to talk about this, certainly in the 
appropriations committees, as we did last year. I know we will have a 
big discussion on it in the budget. It is extremely important that we 
make this kind of commitment now.
  I have heard my colleagues from the Republican side say that Ed-Flex 
needs to go cleanly right now, because it is bipartisan and because it 
is timely. The same goes for class size reduction. It is timely, so 
school boards can make those commitments, and it is bipartisan, if we 
all believed what we said and how we voted last October.
  I really hope I can work with my Republican colleagues to, again, put 
this amendment up this afternoon or whenever the majority leader 
agrees, have a time commitment to it. I am willing to negotiate that. 
If it can be done quickly, that is fine by me. We need to have an up-
or-down vote on this amendment, and we need to do it as quickly as 
possible.
  I, too, want the Ed-Flex bill to pass. This is an amendment I think 
is critical and important and timely, and I hope to work with my 
Republican colleagues to make sure it happens today. I am looking 
forward to our discussion, which will begin in about a half hour. I 
hope to offer my amendment and to work with all of our colleagues on 
the floor to send a message that we do believe in this U.S. Senate that 
reducing class size in 1 through 3 is a commitment we can and should 
make.

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