[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 367-368]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          PLAYING WITH BLOCKS

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, ensuring that our children have the best 
possible education should be a priority for all of us. However, we need 
to ensure that our education dollars fund programs that are actually 
and truly educating our children.

[[Page 368]]

  Awhile back I read an article detailing programs endorsed by the U.S. 
Department of Education which encouraged teaching middle school 
students to play with blocks and use calculators, rather than teach 
them basic math skills. These useless programs have prompted over 200 
scholars recently to take out a full page ad in the Washington Post 
denouncing the programs and calling for Secretary Riley to stop 
endorsing them. But yet programs like these still exist and are still 
funded with the tax dollars of hard-working Americans.
  Our children deserve more. They deserve educational programs that 
will actually prepare them for the 21st century. This year, let us make 
a commitment to our children. Let us raise test scores, but let us do 
it by supporting real education, not by lowering our standards.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back all the dumbed-down education programs that 
have failed to teach our children.

                          ____________________