Political Quotes

“I just want to reiterate, for those who may be listening at this point, we are on the verge of a very, very critical decision in this country. I hope people understand how important it is. As Americans, we care about our children's education. We want them to do the best they can, and in this global economy in which they must compete, we want them to be able to compete with children around the world. That is why we embrace almost any idea to improve education, including ideas that are being thrown around nationally. But one of those ideas, while it sounds good, is, I believe, a grave threat to our children and to education in America, and to their ability to compete. That idea is national testing. People tuning in or just listening might say, what is wrong with national testing? What is wrong with being able to allow parents in Arizona to compare the performance of their children and their schools with parents in Michigan or Florida? The truth is, there is nothing wrong with that, but there are tests to do that right now, independently written tests, like the Iowa test of basic skills, or the Stanford test. We have those tests. What is being proposed today, and what energizes me and causes me fear, is a single exam written in Washington, DC, deep in the bowels of the Federal Department of Education or written by a committee appointed by the President, to be administered to every student in America.”