Jim Bunning: “this week we begin the debate on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, probably the most important Federal program…”

“this week we begin the debate on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, probably the most important Federal program dealing with education in the Nation. The Program needs to be reauthorized and that gives us several options. We can tinker around the edges, make a few changes, put more money in the pot, and maintain the status quo, or we can use this opportunity to reform the program and try to make it better. As far as I am concerned, if you look back over the past 35 years, the choice between these two options is fairly clear. Since 1965, the Federal Government has spent more than $120 billion on title 1, the largest Federal education program at meeting the needs of disadvantaged students. Despite this tremendous amount of money, the performance of disadvantaged students continues to decline--77 percent of children in high-poverty urban schools are reading ``below basic.'' Test scores of 12th graders in math, reading, and writing have remained stagnant or have declined over the last 30 years. Fourth grade students in high-poverty schools remain 2 grade levels behind their peers in low poverty schools in math. In reading, they remain 3 to 4 grades behind. The achievement gap is now widening instead of closing. Half the students from urban school districts fail to graduate on time, if at all. Seven thousand schools are failing according to current accountability standards.…”