Political Quotes

“Is that the words ``comparable'' and ``identical'' are not synonymous. ``Comparable'' allows for great latitude. We have mandated comparability within school districts. If you take the school districts of Los Angeles and New York, there are more students in each of those school districts than in 27 different States. They have found it very workable to have reached comparable levels of educational opportunity within a very diverse student population, in the city of New York and the city of Los Angeles, to cite two examples. There are plenty of other school districts that have student populations vastly in excess of the entire student populations of States that have dealt with this requirement for years. My point is, States bear a responsibility in educating children. This bill, and legislation preceding it over the years, has mandated that teachers, parents, students, school boards, and school superintendents be accountable and responsible. We are asking it of ourselves at the Federal Government. My amendment merely says, should we not also ask our States to be accountable for the equal educational opportunity of all children? That is all. We have laid out some basic commonsense standards without mandating what the standard should specifically.”