Judd Gregg: “I don't think the impact this amendment will have on changing the focus of the President's proposals on education as…”

“I don't think the impact this amendment will have on changing the focus of the President's proposals on education as negotiated between a variety of parties involved in the negotiation can be understated. There was an agreed to set of principles laid down. The basic philosophy of those principles was that we were going to look at how the child did, whether the child actually learned more, whether the low-income child was in a better competitive position relative to peers and educational success. We were going to allow flexibility of the local school systems, subject to assuring through assessment standards and accountability standards that the children were improving. That was the flow: Focus on the child, flexibility, expect academic achievement, and subject it to accountability so we knew it was working. A lot of work went into this concept. The President's ideas are aggressive and creative and they will take the Federal Government in a different direction. We will go away from command and control and go toward output.”