Political Quotes

“our education system is in need of serious reform. Thirty-five years ago, Congress enacted the first Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Billions of dollars have been spent on Title I, the program that is the cornerstone of the federal investment in K through 12 education for disadvantaged children. However, only 13 percent of low-income 4th graders score at or above the ``proficient'' level on national reading tests. As the recently released results of the 2000 National Assessment of Education Progress show, the reading scores of 4th grade students have shown no improvement since 1992. Even worse, no progress has been made in achieving the program's fundamental goal, narrowing the achievement gap between low-income and upper-income students. It is obvious that the current system has serious problems and it is time that we make serious reforms. Some of my colleagues feel that the solution is to throw a huge amount of money at education. I disagree. Yes, education funding should increase, but continuing to expand the current federal system, which is characterized by its many duplicative and ineffective programs is not the answer.”