Date: 1999-03-10
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. today with this debate. we arrive at a crucial point after a number of efforts over the past several years to increase the flexibility by local educational agencies to use Federal dollars. Today we arrive at a point that. if we are now going to provide additional flexibilities to the States to grant waivers to local school districts. we then have to make a decision about accountability. We have to know that we can hold the States publicly accountable for the results. Many have said over the past years that the education debate is not about dollars. it is not about how much money we put into it. Let me tell my colleagues what it is about. It is about results. It is about .vhat happens to the children at the end of the schoolyear. Can they or can they not compute and read at grade level? Can they critically think? Can they master the skills so they can participate in our American economic system? Last night. we retreated to the fact that six young children from the same school in Maryland won the equivalent of the Nobel prize for high school students. the Intel competition. That same State has worked very hard on flexibility. but it has also worked very hard on accountability. The superintendent of that States system encourages Members to vote for the MillerKildee amendment to increase accountability because. as she said. "This bill. in its current provisions. does not ensure that those States receiving EdFlex will be held publicly accountable." The Governor of Texas. when he came and applied for EdFlex for flexibility in running his school system in Texas. he said. "Here is what I am prepared to do as a result. Five years from now. I am telling you that our goal. what we hope to achieve. is to have 90 percent of our children pass the State Texas exams. 90 percent of our children." He also said something else. He said. "I am prepared to have 90 percent of our Hispanic children. 90 percent of our AfricanAmerican children. and 90 percent of our poor children pass that exam." That is public accountability. That is the kind of accountability we would have if we have the MillerKildee amendment. I think it is terribly important. Because what did we get from the other States that applied for EdFlex? We got educational babble out of them. They did not set any goals. We saw the GAO report. They have very vague goals. very vague references to 1.000 schools in operation today that achievement. Some of them could not are more than 50 years old. I believe even provide the data. We cannot con- there is a growing national consensus tinue that process. that we should step up to the plate in This is now going to become a perma- this Congress and address that problem nent part of our law. This is now going of inadequate public school facilities. to govern the investment of $50 billion President Clinton. last year. I belater this year. We ought to be able to lieve. reflected a growing national conlook our constituents and taxpayers in sensus when he called for the recruitthe eye and tell them that we are going ment of 100.000 new teachers to reduce to hold people publicly accountable for class sizes in the primary grades. Last the results. year we made a downpayment on that. I am not telling them what results to but I believe there is a growing naachieve. I am not telling them how to tional consensus that we finish the job do it. But I think they ought to tell us in the Elementary and Secondary Eduwhere they are going to be 5 years from cation Act this year. now. because the last 5year plan has This is a good idea. but let us undernot worked out very well. In fact. stand the limitations of this idea about 85 percent of the school districts today. It will permit many school disdid not do very well on accountability. tricts to have more flexibility with the I appreciate they have got flexibility. 3 or 4 or 5 percent of their budget that but they cannot tell us how their chil- comes from Washington. It will not dren are doing. That is what parents build any new schools. it will not open want to know: How is my child doing? up any large scope of prekindergarten Are they receiving the education that programs. and it will not take the they deserve? steps to reducing class sizes that I be-