Angie Craig: “I come to the Chamber today, as many of my colleagues have, to speak for this long awaited piece of legislation. I thank…”

“I come to the Chamber today, as many of my colleagues have, to speak for this long awaited piece of legislation. I thank Senator Gregg and Senator Kennedy for the tremendous work they have done in bringing this effort together. There have been a wide range of differing views, clearly because of the differences of philosophy and attitudes about how the Federal Government should engage in the business of education at the primary and secondary levels. At the same time, clearly the Nation is replete with studies that indicate our children are not achieving at the levels they should and that the commitment is not as much as it could be, even though many States such as mine struggle as much as is possible to commit the public resources to education and at the same time knowing that in many instances it is woefully inadequate. We finally begin I think to recognize--this legislation reflects it-- that simply throwing money at the educational establishment will not solve our educational problems.”