Jim Jeffords

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 41 and 50. I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9. I further ask unanimous consent that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate then resume consideration of the Mikulski amendment regarding community technology centers as under the previous order.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, tomorrow morning the Senate will have 5 minutes for closing remarks on the Mikulski amendment, with a vote to occur at approximately 9:35 a.m. There are numerous amendments currently pending to the education bill and others expected to be offered during tomorrow's session. The Senate will continue consideration of the education bill until the budget resolution conference report is received from the House. It is hoped the papers will arrive no later than tomorrow afternoon so the Senate can attempt to complete action on the conference report prior to tomorrow's adjournment. As a reminder, all first-degree amendments to the education bill must be filed no later than 5 p.m. tomorrow, as under a previous order.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I won't take the time of the Senate at this point to answer the suggestions of my good friend that we have done less on this side than we should for education. I think we have all done less than we should for education. I will point out that during the Clinton administration, there was practically little or no increase in title I funding. They did have other requests for increases, but for the very needy they did little. Also, for professional teachers, they did little. There was the class size proposal to add more teachers. We can debate this back and forth, but we are all guilty of not providing the necessary resources for education. I am hopeful we will go forward and pass the amendment I had, along with Senator Harkin, to fully fund IDEA. Right now, Senator Allen has an amendment and I defer to him. Amendment No. 380 To Amendment No. 358

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Virginia, who has given us an excellent understanding of what he has done. I think he has done a tremendous job for the State of Virginia. I have looked at his record and have listened to him and realize that he has made great contributions to the State of Virginia, and now he is here to assist us. So I praise him for this amendment. I will ask to have it set aside for a later vote, but I commend him for what he has done and I look forward to working with him. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be set aside.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will vote on the amendments now pending, including an amendment offered by Senator Craig that will deny increases in funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act if a State fails to make adequate yearly progress as defined by the BEST Act. That is the Education Act on which we are working. This amendment by Senator Craig addresses a very important issue-- accountability for results--the issue on which we spent the bulk of our time working when crafting S. 1. There is already a mechanism for holding States accountable in S.1. Keep that in mind. We already have a provision for that. In title VI, part B, if a State fails to meet its goals for adequate progress in improving student achievement, the Secretary must reduce the funds available to that State in succeeding years. I should add that there are also accountability provisions directly related to student performance at the school and district levels. It does not make sense to reduce the overall funding to a State, when in fact some schools and districts may be doing a good job and others are not. S.1 targets sanctions to where the problem exists. In other words, if one school in a district is doing well and another is not, we have focused our school improvement activities on the school that is not doing its job to improve achievement. Similarly, if one district in a State is excelling and another is not, raising the achievement of all its students, then under our bill, the poor performing district would be sanctioned. Under this scenario, with these school and district level accountability provisions in place, it would not make sense to reduce the funding of all the schools and districts by reducing the grant to the State. Instead, as I mentioned earlier, under S.1, a State not making its performance goals would only be sanctioned based on the funds it is allowed to keep at the State level, not to hurt the individual district. I can assure the Senate that these funds are very important and valuable to States, and their loss will certainly be something that States will work hard to avoid. The Craig amendment would dramatically expand the sanctions already spelled out in the bill and would result in a disproportionate penalty, in my view. My colleagues should not be under any illusion that only a few States will fail to make adequate yearly progress. Of the 18 or 19 States we have looked at in an informal survey, nearly three quarters would have failed last year, and the handful that did not fail outright might do so with disaggregated data. I appreciate my colleague's interest in driving change at the State and local levels, but I think the President's proposals, incorporated in the BEST Act, offer a more precise means of doing so in the years ahead. Adoption of the Craig amendment, by contrast would stop dead in their tracks the President's testing and reading initiatives. I hope the Senate will resist the Craig amendment. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1, the education bill. The first amendment will be an amendment offered by Senator Craig regarding ESEA funding. That amendment will be followed by an amendment by Senator Kennedy or his designee. Any votes ordered on those amendments will be stacked to occur on Tuesday morning. Further amendments to the education bill may be offered during today's session. The Senate will conclude action on the budget conference report and the Bolton nomination during next week's session of the Senate. I thank my colleagues for their attention.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Again, I commend my good friend from West Virginia on a most eloquent statement. I shall in no way try to match or improve upon what he has said. I strongly believe in what he is trying to do. Senator Kennedy has most eloquently expressed his views and thoughts about not only the amendment but the Senator's past. I, for one, admire him every time I hear him speak. It always lifts my day a little bit. I certainly would accept the amendment. I am checking now to find out from other Members to see if we can do that. We cannot do it at this time.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise in support of the amendment by Senator Kennedy. In S. 1, we have combined the class size reduction program with the Eisenhower math and science program to create a single, substantial funding stream for staff development. Given the difficulty in finding teachers who have adequate pre-service training in reading, math, science, and special education, in- service professional development is critically important. This amendment establishes a set of ambitious goals for the funding of title II of S. 1, much like the amendment of Senators Dodd and Collins on title I. If we are going to meet the goals established in this legislation-- that every child reach proficiency--then we must upgrade the teaching force. This amendment sends the right signal. I am pleased to join the Senator in this amendment. I shall work with him to get it adopted. Seeing no other Senator asking for recognition, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for his contribution to the debate and his interest in education. Amendment No. 373

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask for the regular order with respect to amendment No. 373.

Mr. JEFFORDS. I understand there is no objection to this amendment, and I urge its adoption.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, today the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1, the education bill. The bipartisan substitute amendment will be offered shortly, and debate on the amendment is expected to take most of this morning's session. The budget conference report is expected to be completed in the House this afternoon. Therefore, the Senate will suspend consideration of the education bill to take up the budget conference report when it is received. Votes will occur during today's session on amendments to the education bill, and possibly on adoption of the budget conference report. Senators will be notified as votes are scheduled. I thank my colleagues for their attention.

Mr. JEFFORDS

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. JEFFORDS. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, this morning the Senate begins in earnest the consideration of S. 1, the Better Education for Students and Teachers Act. I think it is fair to say that this is the most dramatic reform of Federal elementary and secondary education law since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965. The only reason we are on the threshold of such change is that a remarkable consensus has developed over the past few years with regard to Federal education policy. Senators from both parties and across the entire spectrum of political views have come to the realization that if we want to achieve real progress in our schools, we have to measure the progress. This is easier said than done, of course. Schools are not producing uniform widgets, but educating children. Children come into the public education system with very different backgrounds and experiences. This results in students performing at different achievement levels. However, as the leading States have found, after a lot of time and hard work, you can assess students and use the results to constantly improve the education that you provide them. At the same time, if we are going to place high demands on our schools and teachers and students, we must give them the tools they need to do the best job possible. That means extra help for schools that are struggling, high quality professional development for teachers, and choices for students in schools that persistently fail. In early March, the HELP Committee reported the BEST Act by a unanimous vote 20-0 vote. The bill before us reflects the work of every member of the committee. Each one has contributed in significant ways to improving this bill and education in our country. Since the bill emerged from the committee, we and our staffs have been meeting with Senators on and off the committee to reach agreements on further improvement to the legislation. The substitute I am offering this morning reflects the results of our discussions over the past few weeks, incorporating the suggestions of a dozen Senators and contributions by the White House throughout the process. For the benefit of my colleagues, let me touch on a few of the changes we are making in the substitute: The first is accountability. At the heart of accountability is adequate yearly progress. Adequate yearly progress ensures that all students of each subgroup will make adequate yearly progress towards proficiency in reading and math over the next 10 years. The other key component of accountability, is providing mechanisms for schools to improve. S. 1, as amended, lays out a series of increasingly strong corrective actions that impact schools, local educational agencies and States that fail to meet the goals for adequate yearly progress. I look forward to the debate and I especially look forward to passing a bill that will enable every child in this nation to have a first rate education. Let me go to some other aspects of it. The next one is supplemental services, a term you will hear over and over again. This is a new option for parents of children in persistently failing schools. Supplemental services are educational services offered by public or private organizations outside the regular school day that are directed at providing such children with the knowledge and skills they need to meet the State standards. Another term you will hear is Straight A's. Up to 7 States and 25 local educational agencies will be allowed to enter into performance agreements with the Secretary of Education that will trade increased flexibility for strong accountability. Regarding bilingual education, the amendment before us establishes a trigger for converting the Bilingual Education Act from a set of federally run programs into a single, State grant program focused on helping all limited English proficient students attain fluency in English and master the academic content. For testing, S. 1, as amended, authorizes $400 million a year over the life of the bill to pay for the cost of developing and implementing the new assessments required by the bill. I look forward to this debate and passing a bill that will give every child a first-rate education. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. JEFFORDS. I certainly withhold.