Political Quotes

“I thank the manager. Mr. President, there have been numerous times that I have come to the Senate floor to say--and I come, once again, to repeat--that education is a national priority, but it is an obligation and responsibility of those at the State and local level. The education of our children has traditionally been--and ought to be in the future--carried out and implemented at the local level. I remember a couple of years ago when we were talking about Federal control that one of my colleagues, who is now no longer with us, was in a debate with a representative in the Department of Education. The Department of Education person said: I care just as much about your children and their needs and their operations in school and their success as you do, to which he replied: Well, that's great. Do you know their names? No. Do you know what their scores are? No. Do you know what their challenges are? No. Do you know where their schools are? No. The simple fact is that none of us here in Washington, no matter how much we are concerned about education in general and children in general, can know what the problems are and what the challenges are and how best to meet those challenges for students in each local school district throughout this Nation. I think we would all say that each child is different. Each school district is different. Each school is different. I think for that and other good reasons the Federal role in education has been a limited one, and I believe it should be.”