Sam Gibbons: “in the most recent international education survey conducted on U.S. high school seniors, U.S. ranks near the bottom in…”

“in the most recent international education survey conducted on U.S. high school seniors, U.S. ranks near the bottom in math and science. The math category alone, our students ranked 21st out of 23 countries. My purpose this morning is not to shame the American youth nor blame our hard working teachers in this country, but rather to give a wake-up call to my colleagues. For too long our liberal, but well-intended, colleagues have squandered billions of Federal education dollars on national testing and bloated Washington bureaucracy. It is high time they stop wasting money and start directing more money and more control to our parents, teachers, and communities. Let us face it, parents and teachers are the people who know our kids the best. I have a 10-year-old son in Nevada's public school system. I would much rather have the parents and teachers and school officials in Reno, Nevada, decide what is best for my son's education rather than some know-it-all Washington bureaucrat. Please, for the sake of our children, let us get America's education system on track by keeping big government out of our school systems.”