Byron Dorgan: “before I ask the question, I say I think the remarks by Senator Gorton are important and raise the right question. I…”

“before I ask the question, I say I think the remarks by Senator Gorton are important and raise the right question. I would not suggest that we have some sort of aspiration for national testing that would in any way lower standards. We need to raise standards. It seems to me that the proposals that have been advanced, for example, with respect to the reading at the fourth grade level is one of these gateway activities. If you do not get through that fourth grade level and are able to read and go beyond, and you are beyond that and aren't able to read sufficiently, nothing else will come together in your educational career. That is the problem. That is why you need to measure on some of these gateway activities like reading at the fourth grade level and mathematics at the eighth grade level. The Senator from the State of Washington made a couple of important points. There are some good testing activities going on in some States. Some are terribly deficient. It is important to understand that, whether it is the National Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, or the technology firms in our country who are asking for this and who believe this is an essential part of understanding what we are getting from our educational system and how to fix it. They feel that we have a significant problem. And, in order to fix that problem, you need to figure out where you are, and where you go from that point to fix it. I share that feeling.…”