Asa Hutchinson: “if I may return to the State of Arkansas where we had a reduction in the number of students by 1.3 percent over the 25…”

“if I may return to the State of Arkansas where we had a reduction in the number of students by 1.3 percent over the 25 years from 1970 on; the number of teachers grew by 17,407 in 1965 to almost 30,000 in 1997. That is an increase of 70 percent in the number of teachers, while we saw a decrease in the number of students. That is dramatic class size reduction. Unfortunately, we have not seen a comparable increase in academic achievement. I believe, if you look nationwide, that will be the story in State after State. While student-teacher ratios have decreased, we have not seen a comparable increase in academic achievement. Why would we then put this huge investment, dictating from Washington what the solution should be? If I were to make no other point in these remarks, it would be this seventh concern, that a one-size-fits-all approach from Washington will actually have a negative impact on the poorest students in this country.”