Tom Harkin: “the issue before us really is whether or not we are going to change gears on education. The Republican bill changes…”

“the issue before us really is whether or not we are going to change gears on education. The Republican bill changes gears in reverse. It puts us in reverse. The Democratic alternative offered by Senator Daschle puts us in a forward gear and moves us ahead into the 21st century. I want to cover basically one issue that is encompassed in the Democratic alternative. If that alternative is not adopted--I assume by the party-line votes that are being held on education this year it probably will not be--I will be offering an amendment, hopefully tomorrow or the day thereafter, on an issue about which the American people are really concerned when it comes to elementary and secondary education. That is the issue of our crumbling schools and what is going to be done about them. USA Today the other day pointed out that 89 percent of the American people ranked education as the most important issue. That is why this debate is so important and why the elementary and secondary education bill is so important. When you talk to the American people about what their concerns are, they talk about things such as smaller class sizes, better qualified teachers, better paid teachers, better accountability--all the issues we talk about in our alternative. But the one that comes up every single time is the state of our schools, how bad they are and how they are crumbling down around us.”