[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  AMERICAN EDUCATION BEING LEFT BEHIND

  (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIAHRT. Madam Speaker, in a recent Washington Times technology 
section, Fred Reed gives us good evidence while America is on the path 
towards a third-rate economy.
  First, in 2001 through the end of the last school year, New York City 
8th graders' failure rate in history and government grew from 61 
percent to 81 percent. That is four out of five students.
  Second, 22 percent of the students entering college in Indiana needed 
remedial math.
  Third, this year's top U.S. university finished in 17th place in an 
international collegiate programming contest.
  We are not preparing for tomorrow's economy. The world is getting 
more and more technical, and we are falling behind. While China is 
creating 350,000 engineers every year, while India is creating 80,000 
software engineers every year, we are putting more and more of our 
students in remedial math. We have to change the educational 
environment in America if we are going to avoid becoming a third-rate 
economy.
  Education is just one of the issues the Economic Competitive Caucus 
will be addressing this year so we can prepare for tomorrow's economy.

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