Jeff Bingaman: “first I would like to call attention to several recent reports that have come out on the issue of high academic…”

“first I would like to call attention to several recent reports that have come out on the issue of high academic standards and the need for high standards and national standards in our schools, and refer to those reports and perhaps put them in context. I think it is clear from the reports that I am going to refer to here that there is a need for accelerating the progress that our country is making in developing world class academic standards. It is also clear that the States and local school districts are having great difficulties in determining for themselves what those standards ought to be, which is a large and costly task. First, I will refer to the comprehensive Third International Math and Science Study that was recently released. It shows that math standards have not yet been implemented at the classroom level in many of our schools, and our students score at or below the average on math and science compared to students in other nations. Mr. President, you will remember that one of the goals which the Governors and President Bush established in Charlottesville in 1989 was that the United States would be first in the world in math and science by the year 2000. In fact, the reality is very different from that lofty goal that was set 8 years ago.”