Political Quotes

“we will be discussing two critical areas as we address the education of our youth in this country. Those two areas are flexibility and accountability. The issue that we will discuss is called Ed-Flex. Specifically, it is the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999. The shorthand version is ``Ed-Flex.'' That is the way it will be referred to, I am sure, over the next several hours and the next several days as we look at this particular bill which I expect to come to the floor next week. Let me begin by discussing what Ed-Flex is so people will know what we are talking about. It is really pretty simple. Ed-Flex is a State waiver program that allows schools and school districts at the local level to obtain or have the opportunity to obtain a waiver to carry out and accomplish a specific educational mission, but with flexibility free of Washington red tape, free of the administrative regulatory burden which too often--and we hear it as we travel across the State again and again--shackles them in terms of meeting those specific goals. These regulations are often well intentioned. We create them right here in this room in Washington, DC, and then we expect them to fit every local community. They simply don't fit. That is No. 1. That is what Ed-Flex is. No. 2, we as a country recognize we are failing our children today in terms of education.”