Political Quotes

“Goals 2000 is on the floor today. We ought to remember why we are here and where this process started. The process started when 50 Governors came together with then-President Bush to talk about what can the Governors and the President do to bring focus to the efforts to reform America's schools, and the whole idea here was to bring together a voluntary framework to help each of the Governors reform education. But when the bill came through during George Bush's years, it did not get very far because we could not come to some agreement on what that bill ought to be. And so it was reintroduced under President Clinton, a bill that was not bad, was not exactly what George Bush had brought to the Congress, but not much different. And then, the majority in the House and Senate got hold of it, and look what happened then. Instead of empowering communities, instead of empowering parents to improve schools in America, all this bill does is empower the bureaucracy once again. The most glaring example is the language in this bill that puts in opportunity to learn standards, It is much better than the House-passed version, but it is still rather confusing. It orders the States that they will in fact put opportunity to learn standards together. It says, "You do not have to implement them," and third, it says, "We will not check to make sure whether you are implementing them or not." Then why in the world are they even in the bill?”