Liz Saville Roberts: “I am pleased that with the passage of this legislation, we are on our way to assisting our Nation's schools in providing…”

“I am pleased that with the passage of this legislation, we are on our way to assisting our Nation's schools in providing a quality education for each and every child. I want to thank Senators Kennedy and Gregg, Congressmen Boehner and Miller and their staffs for their hard work in crafting a bipartisan piece of legislation that will give children the opportunity to succeed in the classroom. I am also happy to see that this legislation includes an emphasis on math and science education. Senator Frist, Congressman Ehlers and myself have worked hard to make ensure that there is a renewed focus on a portion of education curricula that needs addressing. Scores on the National Assessment for Educational Progress, NAEP, test in the subject area of science have not improved over the last several years and, in fact, have been lower than previous years test scores. Seniors in high school who took the 2000 NAEP science test scored, on average, three points lower than those taking the test in 1996. Only 18 percent correctly answered challenging science questions, down from 21 percent and those students who knew just the basics dropped to 53 percent. This is simply unacceptable.”