Political Quotes

“If this amendment is adopted, we are in a significant way putting at risk the entire bill because accountability is the heart and soul of the bill. This is where I think the real progress will be made; that is, making the diagnosis so we know how to invest education dollars and resources. This is the spirit of reform. All of it depends on knowing where students are and being able to follow their progress over time so we can intervene at an appropriate time. It is interesting. We talk about dollars. We will be talking about assessments and dollars, and in the amendment they are linked together. I do not think some sort of ransom should be placed over this bill. We have the appropriations process that is going to deal with the reforms we put into place. If we go back to 1994, the Democrats passed a law which required States to develop broad comprehensive reforms in content, curriculum, and performance standards.”