Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, today's debate on the Ed-Flex bill will focus on whether we should require accountability for the Federal dollars which we send to the States and how those dollars should be targeted. Not top-down Federal-knows-best accountability, but State-developed systems focusing on results that target the resources on the most disadvantaged children. H.R. 800 expands the existing Ed-Flex program, which the General Accounting Office said in a November report has a questionable accountability structure. The GAO said that Ed-Flex implementation is so uneven that many Ed-Flex States have not established goals for increased academic achievement, and are unable to report on the educational impact of waivers. In short, the GAO report casts serious doubts on whether the Ed-Flex is something worthy of expanding to all 50 States. Mr. Chairman, due to these serious questions, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) and I will offer an amendment to require increased accountability in this legislation, so we are not simply giving flexibility without requiring increased academic achievement.”