Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
JANUARY 26, 1999, TUESDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
781 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED TESTIMONY OF
CHUCK
HAGEL
UNITED STATES SENATOR
NEBRASKA
BEFORE THE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION LABOR AND PENSION COMMITTEE
SUBJECT - SENATORS' PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION ISSUES
BODY:
Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
calling this timely hearing.
Education is an issue which is important to all
of us. I look forward to working closely with you and the rest of the Committee
on legislation that better serves the interests of parents, educators and
schools.
As you know, I am new to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee. I sought a seat on this Committee mainly because it has
jurisdiction over federal education policy -- an area in which I want to get
more deeply involved.
Like many Americans I am concerned that our Nation's
children are not being adequately prepared to compete in a global economy or
learning the skills they need to become productive citizens. Too few U.S.
students are entering and succeeding in the fields of mathematics, natural
science, computer science, and engineering. The time has come to do something
about it. Now is the time for education renewal.
The 106th Congress and this
Committee have a historic opportunity to change the course of federal education
policies. We will consider legislation this Congress to reauthorize both the
Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) of 1965. But we are not living in 1965 or 1994. It is
1999. Education needs have changed, and they are changing at an accelerating
rate.
In preparation for the debate this Committee and this Congress will
have in the coming months on education, I recently conducted an education
roundtable discussion with a group of Nebraska's educators and visited an
elementary school in Omaha. I also engaged in a series of meetings with Nebraska
state and local education officials, teachers, administrators, and parents.
The one point these teachers, administrators and parents continually made to
me, and I say this in light of what the President proposed in his recent State
of the Union address, is this --they don't want any more federal involvement in
education. They don't want more big government programs. They want to be
relieved of the burdensome paperwork and regulations imposed by the federal
government so that they can do what they do best -- teach our children.
Nebraska's educators also told me something else that is very important to
our schoolchildren. And this is where I believe the federal government is
missing the point. They tell me that parents need to better prepare, better
educate their children before they enter school -- from ages 1 to 5 or 6.
When a teacher gets a child at 5 or 6, that child is a molded product. That
child is a molded product which can be worked and developed, but the foundation
is already set. Parents, not teachers, or schools or the federal government,
must take full responsibility for building and educating our nation's children.
They are the ones who instill values, morals, and honesty and teach children to
respect each other.
This is not to say that I don't believe the federal
government has a role in education. I believe it does. The federal government,
the President, Members of Congress have the responsibility and the forum from
which to speak about the importance of education -- the bully pulpit if you
will.
However, the federal government should not be the education bully,
which is what the President's education proposals represent. The President's
initiatives are an unprecedented intrusion into a field traditionally controlled
by States.
Education is the most local of issues -- one that must be decided
by parents, teachers and local school boards. In my view, education cannot and
should not be run by federal decree or by centralized bureaucratic regimes. In
Nebraska, we are fortunate to have very good schools with dedicated teachers and
educators like you. However, in order to compete in a global economy, we need to
make sure that all our Nation's young people receive the best education
possible, as well as the tools they need for a successful and meaningful life.
In my view, we can improve education by ensuring that more decisions are made at
the local level.
The education bills and proposals we consider this Congress
are vehicles that can be used to ensure that Nebraska and America' s current
education needs and priorities are being met. They also provide the chance to
better prepare our children for an uncertain future.
Mr. Chairman, the
hearing you are holding this morning is the beginning of an important
reauthorization process and I look forward to hearing from our colleagues. Their
knowledge of education and their legislative proposals will help us develop
bipartisan solutions to the education issues that come before this Committee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
END
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January 27, 1999 
