Douglas Alexander: “I would like to now praise the pages. I could say good words about the Senate pages and I will. I wanted to especially…”

“I would like to now praise the pages. I could say good words about the Senate pages and I will. I wanted to especially praise the House page school--and I hope the Senate pages will excuse me for doing that. Madam President, my good friend, Alex Haley, the author of ``Roots,'' used to say, ``Find the good and praise it.'' Those words are engraved on his tombstone. When he wrote the story of Kunta Kinte, he minced no words in describing the terrible injustices his ancestors overcame, but he also acknowledged their courage and perseverance. Since I joined this body, I have made improving the teaching of American history one of my top priorities. I have noted some deeply disturbing statistics about students' knowledge of our past. For example, of all the subjects tested by the National Assessment for Education Progress, also known as our Nation's report card, American history is our children's worst subject. But today I am here to follow Alex Haley's advice to find the good and praise it. When it comes to teaching American history, some of the best news can be found right here on Capitol Hill. On January 25, the College Board announced that the House page school ranked first in the Nation among institutions with fewer than 500 pupils for the percentage of the student body who achieve college-level mastery on the advanced placement exam in U.S. history.…”