Copyright 1999 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.
Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony
February 23, 1999, Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 2132 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY February 23, 1999 TOM RIDGE SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION,
LABOR & PENSIONS STATES' PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION POLICY CHANGES
BODY:
Testimony of Gov. Tom Ridge (Pennsylvania)
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions U.S. Senate February 23,
1999 Chairman Jeffords, Senator Kennedy, Honorable Members of the Committee:
Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you some of the
tremendous success we've achieved in improving our children's education in
Pennsylvania. Let me say, as well, how pleased and honored I am to be in the
company of many of my former colleagues when I served in the U.S. House of
Representatives. For 12 years as a Member of the House, I had the distinct
pleasure of working with many of you to improve America's competitive position.
When we talk about our global competitiveness in this fast-paced,
knowledge-based economy. we can't help but talk about Our kids. And about tile
kind of education they need ill order to excel in the new economy. We must equip
them not only with the knowledge and skills that the 21st century demands. But
with a passion for learning. Because in the new millennium. education will be
the lifeblood of society and lifelong learning will be a necessity. I understand
many of you may have questions about the appropriate state role developing
educational programs to serve our nation's children. I'd like to share my views.
I, along with many of my colleagues, strongly believe that schools work best
when tile states are afforded the opportunity to work with committed parents and
teachers to develop and implement education policies and priorities. At the
local level, school boards, teachers, parents and community groups are
responsible for local control over curriculum, facilities and staffing. Because
of the nature of the business. school district personnel are caught up in the
day to day management of the operations of the schools. We in Pennsylvania, with
our 501 school districts, cherish the notion of a locally run community public
school, a school that embraces all that the community finds dear for its
children. As a state government, we have less responsibility for the every day
operations of a school and more responsibility for the broader concepts of
statewide innovations to improve the opportunities created by our education
system. Over the last four years, we in Pennsylvania have charted a very
deliberate course with a comprehensive strategy to ignite a passion for learning
in our young people. Our agenda is aggressive and innovative, and it is making a
difference. The reason is that it goes right to the source where education takes
place. Not in the capitol or the legislature. where public policy is created,
but in the classroom. We want to give all our children the opportunity for a
quality education. First, our children, (their education and our public schools)
continue to be the number one investment priority of the hard- earned dollars of
Pennsylvania taxpayers. Pennsylvanians spend over $14 billion a year on public
education, nearly $6 billion in state tax dollars alone. And in my new budget,
we will increase the funds available to our public schools by nearly a quarter-
billion dollars. But, in Pennsylvania, we've proven that the color of innovation
isn't always green. Taxpayers and parents want to know what kind of value they
are getting for their tax dollars. That's why we've undertaken a broad range of
school reforms that demand greater accountability. personal responsibility and
performance. We have established rigorous academic standards at grades 3,5,8 and
11 in reading, writing and math - with science soon to follow. These standards
will help ensure that our students get the basic skills they will need to
succeed. To get a clear picture on how they stack up, we measure student and
school progress with state assessments aligned with our standards. We have
invested $132 million over the last three years to give our kids the latest
technology in their classrooms. Our "Link to Learn" classroom technology program
was recognized by the Progress and Freedom Foundation here in Washington as a
national "best practice" for its effective use of computer technologies to
improve learning in our schools. For example. with leadership at the local
level, and by leveraging state support with private support, and by working with
other school districts and institutions of higher education, a former isolated
rural school district in central Pennsylvania is now able to learn from experts
anywhere in the world. The traditional notion of learning in a classroom has
changed forever in that school district. Pennsylvania helped to make it
possible. one teacher and her neighbors made it happen. And, in Pennsylvania,
we're using technology so parents and taxpayers can see just how well their
public schools are doing. Comprehensive school profiles on our more than 3,100
public schools are available on CD-ROM and over the Internet. Now, news that
parents need is just a mouse-click away - information on teaching staff, class
size, even how many computers the school has. Just as we have raised the bar for
Pennsylvania's students. our "Teachers for the 21st Century" initiative will
ensure that the best and brightest are teaching in Pennsylvania's classrooms. An
ambitious effort that I believe will make Pennsylvania a national leader in
educational excellence, this initiative will require future teachers in
Pennsylvania to take the same content-area requirements as their peers majoring
in liberal arts disciplines. That means that a future math teacher must take the
same courses as a math major. We will also require that they keep a 3.0
grade-point average, not just in their area of specialty, but in all of their
courses. to be eligible to teach. And to ensure that teachers in our classrooms
now are the very best they can be, I have proposed requiring 270 hours of
continuing professional development every five years. Pennsylvanians demand a
lot from their teachers, but we also have given them unprecedented support. Our
Department of Education has distributed more than 50,000 Classroom Resource
kits, unique kits and CD-ROMs designed by teachers for teachers to help our kids
meet our new academic standards. And like never before, we offer professional
development to teachers to enrich their skills. We launched the first-ever
Governor's Academy for Urban Education and the Governor's Institutes for
Educators - two programs that provide state-of-the-art training for teachers. As
Members of this Committee can see, we set high expectations for our children,
teachers and schools. But we also reward them when they achieve results. Our
performance incentive grants challenge individual schools -- teachers and
students -- to compete against themselves, to improve on their own performance.
Last year. nearly 1,000 schools that made the greatest gains in academic
achievement and attendance shared almost $ 1 0 million in performance grants.
These dollars go directly to individual schools for them to decide how to
reinvest. Last fall, at a York County high school. students and teachers and
administrators and parents gathered together to celebrate. There were streamers.
posters. cheers and slaps on the back for a job well done. But, this wasn't a
pep rally for the school's football team. It was a chance to celebrate academic
excellence. This school received a performance incentive award from the state
for outstanding academic achievement. The Students' performance on the
Pennsylvania School Assessment was much higher than the previous year. And the
chant at the rally'? "Let's do it again next year!" It was made possible by the
State and our School Performance Incentive Initiative. But it happened because
of what took place everyday in the classrooms in that high school. Empowering
parents to play a stronger role in their children's education is another key
element of our reforms. I believe that parents, not government, know what's best
for their children. That is why we created charter public schools - so committed
parents, teachers, and community leaders can design customized schools that are
accountable to the communities they serve. Today. nearly 6,000 Pennsylvania
students attend 31 charter schools. and with the help of our charter school
planning grants, scores more are on the drawing board. Even as we expand quality
educational choices in our public school system. ultimately. parents not
government -- should decide where their kids go to school. That's why I support
empowering parents to select the school -- public, private or parochial --
that's best for their children. In Pennsylvania, education reform will never be
complete without school choice. We have accomplished a great deal in improving
the quality of education in Pennsylvania, but we also know that there is much
more to be done. I am here today. in part, to seek a partnership with this
Congress and the federal government to help Pennsylvania in that effort. The
issue is not whether the federal government should support public education.
Rather, we should ask what shape and form should federal support for public
education take? We need to change the terms of the debate. It shouldn't be about
who's right or wrong. We need to work together to create an environment that
appeals to the "can do" attitude. Rather than strapping schools with more
regulations, beating them to death, and telling them how terrible they are, we
need to tap into their creativity and convince them that they can make a
difference if they would become involved. I'd love to be able to give more than
900 schools performance awards --- and even increase the awards. Similarly, I
urge you not to just threaten states with sanctions and penalties. Worse still,
please don't nationalize education. We all care about teacher competency, social
promotion and class size and many other things, yet we must recognize that the
states themselves are designing programs that meet their unique needs. Governors
would like the Federal government to form a true partnership with us. We'd like
greater flexibility so that Federal taxpayer dollars can be aligned with ongoing
state reform efforts in policy, programs and regulations. To start, we hope you
will pass Ed-Flex by the summer, as this program is an important first-step in
allowing states the flexibility to improve their education systems. Governors,
working with their state agencies and local partners. are on the forefront of
efforts to integrate federal. state, local and private resources. Ed-Flex is one
more tool in the arsenal that will make it easier and quicker to implement state
and local reform initiatives. It will enhance our ability to make federal
programs an integral part of our reform efforts instead of an obstacle. We could
be learning things that should be included in the reauthorization of K- 12
programs during your deliberations. In addition, let me also say that the
nation's governors look forward to working with this Committee and this Congress
on the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA). As ESEA reauthorization is discussed and debated, I
would urge that we keep the role of the federal government in public education
foremost in our minds. Education policies and initiatives historically have been
the domain of the states and their local school districts. not the federal
government. States set educational priorities -- standards for students and
teachers. technology programs for the classroom, charter schools, school choice.
But federal education dollars can and should be used to leverage state
initiatives and reforms. I encourage you to empower the states. Our children are
best served if you enable governors and state legislatures, working with
parents, teachers, school boards and concerned citizens at the grassroots, to
direct federal resources where they are needed most. Establish a framework that
enables the states to tailor education policies to meet their unique and
individual needs while furthering national educational objectives. Hold states
accountable for prudent and responsible use of funds, and work to ensure that
the dollars deliver results. I want to recognize the members of this committee
for their efforts to increase federal funding for IDEA by $500 million, making
the federal share 12%. But I would respectfully leave you with this, I urge you
to meet current obligations before creating new ones. Although the federal
contribution is now 12%, statutorily the federal government is committed to
providing 40% of the funding for state IDEA grants. That means finding $10
billion before you provide anything further to new initiatives. I thank you for
giving me the opportunity to speak about education reform in Pennsylvania and
welcome any questions You might have.
LOAD-DATE:
February 25, 1999 
