Political Quotes

“I want to say a word about accountability and relate that to resources. In the measure we will be voting on and amending later today and for the next week or so, there is a full measure of accountability. I want to mention some of the provisions. If after 4 years a school has been unable to shed its label of a nonperforming school, a school is unable to meet its yearly progress goals, a student who is trapped in that school must be offered the chance to go to another public school. That school district must provide the transportation for that student. Under the accountability regimen that is part of this bill, after 4 years of failure by the school, either that school must simply be reconstituted and the administration and teachers let go, or largely replaced, or the school has to be turned over to the State or another entity. There is real accountability in this legislation. There ought to be. The question we need to consider is, Are we investing the resources that will enable that school and thousands of other schools falling short of the mark to help their kids meet the standards that have been set by the various States, particularly in reading and in math? Our role in the Federal Government--when I spoke yesterday I talked about our role--is to level the playing field for kids who come from a disadvantaged background.”