Bob Schaffer: “Maybe fixing the leaky roof is something that has to wait a couple of years because the Vice President has not been…”

“Maybe fixing the leaky roof is something that has to wait a couple of years because the Vice President has not been willing to help us in our effort to fully fund IDEA. That I think is probably the most graphic and dramatic statement of how this philosophy of ours towards flexibility has very real implications on every single classroom in America. That is precisely what we heard as we have traveled around the country. The gentleman from Pennsylvania has helped today unveil his Crossroads 2000 Report, called ``Education at a Crossroads.'' This is really a report that one of the gentleman's subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, had put together as a result of traveling all across America visiting with education professionals, students, parents, teachers, and all the rest. What they tell us more often than not is this. They tell us, and we can read it right in the report, and for our colleagues, I would urge them to get hold of the Committee on Education and the Workforce for a copy of this report, or my office or the chairman's office, and we will make the report available to anyone who wants it. But what we are told as we travel around the country is this: Do not create new programs. In fact, do not spend a dime on creating more government, more Department of Education bureaucracy.…”