Statement of Senator Feinstein On the Negotiations
over the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
April 26, 2001

The education bill on the table, and which I support, makes unprecedented reforms in education policy by requiring results, achievement, and accountability. But these reforms cost money. I believe that we need to provide school districts the resources they need to implement the changes demanded in this groundbreaking legislation. Otherwise, the bill becomes an unfunded mandate.

The bill would require achievement standards for reading, math, science and history and that all students be proficient in those subjects within 10 years. Every student would be tested in reading and math in grades 3-8 each year, and failing schools would be required to address their problems by instituting a new curriculum, restructuring the school, or reconstituting the school staff.

Furthermore, the legislation would provide funds for teacher training, certification, recruitment, retention services and new funds for students with limited English skills to learn English. I strongly support these measures and believe that they are an important step toward improving the accountability and excellence of our schools, but without adequate dollars, the implementation of reform will not happen.

California’s schools are in crisis

There are currently 5.9 million students in California, more students than 36 states have in total population. Because of the increase in population and the push for smaller class sizes, California needs 300,000 new teachers by 2010. We already have 30,000 teachers without credentials and that number could keep climbing.

Moreover, California has 2.3 million students (38 percent of students) who speak a language other than English. And California needs $7 billion for modernization and deferred maintenance and $9.6 billion for new construction.

As a result, California’s schools frequently fall short:

• 34 % of California’s schools that participate in Title I are identified for improvement compared to the national average of 19 % (U.S. Department of Education); and
  
• Only 20 % of California’s fourth grade students are proficient in reading, ranking 36 out of 39 states. California ranks 32 out of 36 states for proficient eighth graders in reading, at 22 %.

U.S. Education is in Crisis

Schools are failing not just in California, but across the country. In literacy, 58 % of U.S. high school graduates rank below an international literacy standard, dead last among 29 other countries. U.S. 8th graders scored significantly lower in mathematics and science than their peers in fourteen of the 38 participating countries.

In fact, the percentage of teachers in the United States that feel they are “very well prepared” to teach science in the classroom is 27 %. The international average is twice that, peaking at 56 %.

Reforms Requires Resources

The lull in the negotiations over the education bill is not about arbitrary numbers. Teachers cannot teach without resources – textbooks, workbooks, pencils, paper, teaching manuals, lesson plans, and computers.

If we demand real reform from schools, we must also provide them with the resources they need to implement those reforms. And history shows that we have not always done this:

• In California, only 60% of eligible Title I students receive Title I services; and

• Educators say that disadvantaged students need at least $2,000 each per year to bring them up to proficiency. Title I currently provides approximately $613 per student.

The reforms directed by this legislation may be expensive. One expert calculated that it would cost $26 billion to educate the 13 million students in America who are at-risk. Title I, however, provides only $9 billion. Another study estimates that it would cost $4.9 billion per year for teacher training.. And for every state to test in math and reading in grades 3-8, it would require 600 separate tests to be developed. There are 340 of these tests currently in place, but at least 260 more must be developed.

The Federal government provides only 7 percent of education funds. If we don’t increase the federal commitment through this legislation, citizens will pay in other ways – in higher state and local taxes, higher property taxes, higher illiteracy, and ultimately higher welfare and crime costs.

It is clear that we cannot stick with the status quo. It is time to step up to the plate in the name of true educational reform.