James M. Jeffords: “Final passage on this critical piece of legislation has been delayed long enough. It has been 10 years, by my count…”

“Final passage on this critical piece of legislation has been delayed long enough. It has been 10 years, by my count, since the report ``Nation at Risk'' brought the public's attention to the serious state of our Nation's schools. Today, we will have an opportunity to design and go forward to establish a program to eliminate the serious deficiencies in education. Whether or not it will be a success, we do not know. But I am hopeful that, rather than just pass another bill which will outline all the wonderful things we would like to do, it will turn into a meaningful path to get to where we want to be. Last week's debate proved that interest in education reform remains high. While we may argue about the best method to achieve reform, there is no debate that reform must occur.”