An 868-page bill said to be a fix for the loathed, landmark “No Child Left Behind,” was recently introduced allowing senators only 48 hours to read and consider it. Sen. Rand Paul (R‑Ky) objected, declaring, “This process is rotten from the top to the bottom.”
Sen. Paul called that a “tragedy.”
No senator could argue with his criticism of the process, of course, but Sen. Michael Bennett of Colorado did take to the floor to argue it was an even bigger tragedy that so many children failed to reach proficiency in math and reading. He begged Sen. Paul to stop objecting so the bill could move forward and be passed.
Sound reasonable? Well, Bennett did not claim to have read the entire bill, only that (like so many other bills passed in recent years) the legislation is so desperately needed that no time could be spared to actually read it and deliberate.
Sen. Paul also lambasted the idea that senators had not held hearings where they might listen to the teachers and administrators struggling to comply with the federal mandates in No Child Left Behind. “I’ve yet to meet one teacher who’s in favor of No Child Left Behind,” he offered. “They abhor it.”
For his efforts, Paul got a hearing on the legislation, scheduled for November 8. Now let’s hope he can get senators to sit up in their seats and pay attention.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
9 replies on “Can Senators Learn?”
Sen. Paul is right. This entire bill should have never been passed. I have talked to several school superintendents in Illinois and none of them like it. Teachers are forced to teach the “tests” to help students pass them, and the slow learners will NEVER catch up with the A students so school districts are penalized with the threat of losing federal funds unless they do long, tedious and expensive amounts of paperwork to satisfy the federal and state DOEs, all of which should be done away with. Then someone decides to update the bill with another 700 pages of gobbledy gook that one stupid legislator says is needed and must be passed “right away” even though no one has had time to read it. Sounds like Nancy all over again – “You have to pass it to know what’s in it”. How idiotic is that? Does someone dissolve stupid pills in the water in DC? They seem to get dumber the longer they are in office – another reason we need term limits. Lyle R. Rolfe, Aurora, Il.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him give back the massive campaign donations to the lobbiests that he is pandering to.
It is without a doubt that the senators have not learned anything over the past almost 3 year reign of the narcissistic, arrogant man in the White House.
I watched from the gallery while they voted for the stimulus bill, and I wanted to have a “shout out” that they were being most disloyal to the American people, and now we are finding the truth of that vote.
As Mr. Rolfe said, teachers and other education professionals are against the NO CHILD –. BUT THIS WAS PASSED BY BUSH, with Kennedy’s help- blame Obama for much, not this monstrosity.
Bush pushed it so that he could be called ‘THE EDUCATION PRESIDENT”.
And Kennedy, for the purpose of expanding the government’s reach, into what should be a local (or at worst, statewide) purpose.
And, oh yes, BUSH’S BROTHER NEIL, OF SILVERADO SAVINGS FAILURE FAME, MADE MONEY, HOW MUCH IS UNKNOWN, (to me) PUSHING “AIDES” TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS, so that their students would improve their proficiency.
Corruption and incompetence enfolds BOTH PARTIES.
Wonderful to see your letter in the WaPo today. Now how much longer until they print your columns regularly?
The best thing they could do with the whole program is put it in the trash.
That is where it belongs.
There are so many laws and regulations that need to be thrown away, it is ridiculous.
No child left behind would be a great joke, if it was a joke.
Ever since Sen. Hillary Clinton acknowledged that she had NOT read the NIE report that she criticized, and both Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder finally acknowledged that neither of them had actually read SB 1070 (Arizona Illegal Immigration bill)I have offered a couple of basic recommendations: The first being that every single Senator or Representative sign a certification that they have in fact READ the bill up for a vote, BEFORE they are allowed to vote for or against it. A similar rule would be put in place for every single person testifying before congress on any and all specific and relevant legislation. They lie just once or falsely sign the certification, they are immediately fired, discharged or otherwise removed from the office they hold. That should include the President, whoever it would be.
Art.
You must be a hater too.
Welcome.
Drik, you write that “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him give back the massive campaign donations to the lobbiests that he is pandering to.” I assume you are referring to Bennett.