Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Children and Families submitted the following statement today for the hearing to confirm Arne Duncan as the Secretary of Education:
"Today, we all recognize that if our children fall behind for a decade, America falls behind for a century. It’s that simple. But the flip side of that equation is that if we get the challenge of educating our children right—and I believe we can—everything else will follow. Whatever the issue, America’s leadership—its economic and national security—rests on her commitment to educate and prepare our children to succeed in a global economy, from pre-k to college... It is clear, Mr. Duncan, that we have much work to do... I believe you have the experience and heart needed to excel as Education Secretary, Mr. Duncan, and I look forward to working with you, Chairman Kennedy, and my colleagues on the Committee to provide a quality education to all children."
The full text of the statement Senator Dodd submitted for the record is below:
Thank you Chairman Kennedy. I want to welcome and congratulate Mr. Arne Duncan on his nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Education.
I’ve served on this committee for 26 years, and rarely have I seen a time where the potential to make a positive impact on our nation’s education system has been so great. Over the coming months, as we face difficult economic times, there will be many discussions on the importance of making smart investments—how can we best make the critical decisions needed to rebuild our economy?
Today, we all recognize that if our children fall behind for a decade, America falls behind for a century. It’s that simple. But the flip side of that equation is that if we get the challenge of educating our children right—and I believe we can—everything else will follow. Whatever the issue, America’s leadership—its economic and national security—rests on her commitment to educate and prepare our children to succeed in a global economy, from pre-k to college.
To be sure, no one knows this better than my colleague, Chairman Kennedy. From his shared commitment to early childhood education to his work last year reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, Senator Kennedy has worked tirelessly to provide quality education to all Americans. I look forward to continuing our work together to improve our nation’s schools.
Mr. Duncan, I know you recognize that the state of our education system is troubling. One out of four high school freshmen fails to graduate within four years. Among those who do make it to graduation, only a third have the skills they need to succeed in college. American students are finding it more difficult to compete against their international peers in our increasingly interconnected world. Despite the efforts we have made in education, we are failing to meet the needs of students of all ages across the nation.
That is why I am encouraged that President-Elect Obama has chosen you to lead the Department of Education. I am also heartened by his commitment to early childhood education and look forward to strengthening current programs like Head Start, CCDBG, and Title I to benefit our children and their families. The Department of Education as well as the Department of Health and Human Services are collectively responsible for our early childhood education. These two agencies must work in a cooperative and coordinated manner to comprehensively address the needs of our children. We know that investing in our youngest Americans pays off in their readiness for school, their health, job creation now and in the future, and the need for fewer social services later in a child’s life.
In the last Congress, I introduced the Early Childhood Investment Act to establish public-private partnerships to strengthen existing investments in early childhood development by awarding grants to local community initiatives and programs that serve young children and their families. We see many low-income children entering Kindergarten behind their peers. Already, by the age of five, there is a documented achievement gap in education.
We must do a better job of investing our time, money, and energy in strengthening and expanding programs that help our youngest children enter school healthy and ready to learn, and I look forward to working with you to ensure we do.
Of course, once these students enter kindergarten, our work is far from over. Reforming No Child Left Behind is long overdue – the law has been implemented in a manner that is inflexible, and many times, unreasonable.
No one argues with the basic tenets of the law. No one argues that providing a high quality education for all students is our highest priority. And no one suggests that the importance of closing the achievement gap across demographic and socioeconomic lines is critical to our future.
But we have failed to give states and districts the tools and resources they need to help students be successful. Instead, No Child Left Behind has become confusing and even daunting to many teachers, schools, and states who are doing heroic work to make a difference in students’ lives under often extraordinary and difficult circumstances.
Mr. Duncan, I look forward to working with you and my colleagues to reform No Child Left Behind. As I have outlined in the No Child Left Behind Reform Act, I believe it is important that we consider the best ways to support students, teachers, and schools. Schools should not simply be permitted to use added academic measures in assessing student improvement – they should be encouraged to do so.
Assessment is critically important. But in the process of assessing the performance of our students in the classroom, we should not forget to assess what really counts:
Whether they’re learning in the classroom. In my view, we ought to examine implementing growth models into the legislation and provide support to schools and students who fail to meet adequate yearly progress.
In the 2006-2007 school year, 315 of Connecticut’s schools—nearly a third—did not make adequate yearly progress. Instead of penalizing schools that are identified as needing improvement, we should put a system in place that invests in them. I look forward to working together to expand and strengthen programs that have already made a positive difference in the lives of students, such as afterschool programs.
Additionally, I am pleased that President-Elect Obama has nominated someone who has worked so closely with teachers. In such a critical moment for the future of education, we must put aside our ideological differences and focus on programs and ideas that work. You and I both know that supporting teachers will be central to improving our nation’s schools – they are the single most underutilized resource in reforming our education system.
I have stood with teachers throughout my entire career in public service, because I know that they work tirelessly to support and education children across America. The debate ought not to be about the quality of teachers in the workforce – as far as I am concerned, no one works harder and gives more than our public school teachers.
Rather, our policies should be about identifying where teachers need the most help and, for a change, giving them that help. I am sure that, given your reputation as a collaborator, you will do the same in the coming months.
Lastly, I look forward to working together, Mr. Duncan, to helping make college accessible and affordable for all Americans. If you talk to families today, among their primary concerns in this economy is their ability to provide for their children’s education. American families know that education, particularly a college education, is vital to their children’s lifelong success. According to the most recent statistics, a college education can increase an individual’s earnings by as much as $800,000 over a lifetime. Higher education is the key not only to the economic security of individuals, but to the economic security and global competitiveness of our nation as a whole. And yet, American families today are greatly concerned about their children’s prospects for a higher education – specifically as it relates to the cost of tuition. Today’s tuition levels are, in many cases, spiraling beyond the reach of many hard-working Americans. Clearly, we must do more to ensure that skyrocketing tuition rates do not put out of reach the dream and ability of obtaining a college degree.
It is clear, Mr. Duncan, that we have much work to do. At a time when many states, including my state, are slashing education budgets, and our country faces extraordinary challenges, we must commit to reinvesting in our nation’s future – we have no other choice. I believe you have the experience and heart needed to excel as Education Secretary, Mr. Duncan, and I look forward to working with you, Chairman Kennedy, and my colleagues on the Committee to provide a quality education to all children.
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