Jeff Bingaman: “let me just comment on the agreement that has been reached on the issue of national tests and is part of the conference…”

“let me just comment on the agreement that has been reached on the issue of national tests and is part of the conference report that we are getting ready to vote on. After weeks of delay, and essentially a campaign of misinformation waged against voluntary national tests, we now have an agreement that will allow parents to know how their children are really doing in school. And they will be able to know that as soon as the 1999-2000 school year. As my colleagues know, people who paid attention on this issue, I have long advocated developing voluntary national education tests. And despite the firestorm of controversy that has erupted here on Capitol Hill in the last week or two, the vast majority of Americans have always thought that this was a good idea. Why should we continue to fumble around in the dark trying to guess what is wrong with our educational system when we can simply turn on the light and see for ourselves? For these reasons, I worked with others here in the Senate to negotiate the initial Senate compromise that we approved here by a vote of 87 to 13. I worked with my colleagues to ensure that the Labor-HHS conferees knew how important it was to have new tests that States could use if they chose to as soon as possible. Here on the floor I have done my best to describe the myths and the realities of what national testing is all about. As a result, I am glad to report that an agreement on moving forward with developing new tests has been finalized.”