Robert Torricelli: “Mr. President, I want at the outset to begin, even at a moment of some personal satisfaction, by stating some…”

“Mr. President, I want at the outset to begin, even at a moment of some personal satisfaction, by stating some considerable disappointment. The 105th Congress was to be the ``Congress of education,'' the time in which America was going to finally face the reality that the great variable in American life is the quality of the education we are affording our children. Recognizing that with a quality education accorded to our children everything--at a time of global competition and rising technological standards--is possible and without it everything is in peril, the President challenged Congress to take leadership in the rebuilding of our schools, the raising of standards through voluntary testing, and the hiring of new teachers to reduce class size. Perhaps this was done because the President, like all of us, recognized that it is late. Forty percent of American fourth graders are failing to attain a basic level in reading; 40 percent of eighth graders are failing basic tests in mathematics. In math and science, America ranks 19th of 21 industrial nations.”