Political Quotes

“I think we have a tremendous disconnect in the reality of education in America today which concerns me a great deal. And that is that we have studies that show that the ultimate consumers in terms of what happens to the education product, if you want to phrase it that way, the colleges and the workplace all say the kids are just not doing as well as they should, that education is not where it should be. But if we look at polls on how our schools are doing on a local basis, we will find that parents and others say, gee, they are achieving at an 80 percent level or whatever it may be be. We just do not find that to be the right answer out in the workplace. I am one who believes that we need some sort of national comparison. I am not sure if we need a national voluntary test or not, and for that reason I am going to support the legislation. I do not think that this legislation has gained adequate support from families and educators in the States or Congress yet, and the National Assessment Governing Board, on which I actually served for a couple years, has recommended that the test be delayed until 2001. And the administration wants to move it up. Tests cannot be done that rapidly. They are very difficult to do. But having said that, I do not come down on the side of those who say that we need no testing at all.”