Rick Lazio on Education
More teachers, smaller classes, no Washington decisions
LAZIO: I believe in making changes to put our children first. Mrs. Clinton believes in making sure that decision making on education stays in Washington. I want teachers and parents to make decisions about their education.CLINTON: Where we part
company is that he didn’t support [the Bill for] 100,000 teachers in the classroom. And he has not gone along with the bipartisan plan to build and repair our schools so that we actually can have those lower classroom sizes. And he supports vouchers,
which I oppose.
LAZIO: I have voted twice to reduce class size, twice for billions to help us recruit new teachers. I have been a co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation for school construction. You know that. What’s important here is that we understand
the difference between us. Mrs. Clinton believes that all the decisions should be made in Washington, that we should force categorical programs. I understand that communities should be making those decisions on a community-by-community basis.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Teacher testing for new teachers and current teachers
LAZIO: Mrs. Clinton said that she was for teacher testing. Well, but only for new teachers. I’m for teacher competency examinations for teachers whether they’re new teachers, but more importantly teachers that have been
in the system for some time. I don’t understand why you would not want to have examinations for teachers that were already in the system that are perhaps failing our children. Q: Is it true what he says - that you’re for testing new teachers
but not teachers who are already in the system?
CLINTON: That’s right. And that’s what the New York law is. You know, I agree that we should be testing new teachers. I believe that we ought to have pay for performance
where we evaluate teachers. I think we ought to streamline the due process standards so that teachers that don’t measure up would no longer be in the classroom.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Arkansas education: high spending, disastrous performance
LAZIO: In Arkansas, when you had responsibility for education, the student performance when you left was at the bottom of the barrel. Spending was up. Taxes were up.CLINTON: The work that was done in Arkansas received numerous awards and praise,
because we really started something that I’m very proud of. And test scores went up in third grade and sixth grade. High school graduation went up. The work was done against great odds, in a very poor state.
LAZIO: I have a very different perspective
on your record in Arkansas. And I would just urge the voters not to rely on what I’m saying, but to look it up.
CLINTON: I’m not here to defend Arkansas. I’m here to run for the Senate to represent New York.
LAZIO: I realize that you don’t want to
talk about Arkansas because that experience was a disaster for Arkansas.
CLINTON: I’m happy to talk about it if that’s what you want to spend your time talking about.
LAZIO: That’s your record, Mrs. Clinton. You can’t run away from your record.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Testing only new teachers is trap by teachers’ unions
LAZIO [to Clinton]: Why you would say to a new teacher that just came out of school and has learned the most current up-to-date methodology for teaching-why you would say teacher testing is OK for them but it’s not OK for somebody that’s been out there
and teaching for 15 years and may have lost touch with their ability to use the latest techniques. And I think it’s because in the end I’m not trapped by the status quo. I’m not trapped by the teachers’ unions, which I think Mrs. Clinton is. Q: Are
you trapped by the teachers unions?
CLINTON: No. In fact I’m very much in line with what I think will work and what experts in the field think. You know, I’m a lawyer. I had to take a bar exam. Mr. Lazio’s a lawyer. He took a bar exam and he wasn’t
tested every five years. I think teachers are professionals and should be treated as professionals. That’s why I believe that we should test teachers in the beginning to make sure that when they got their teaching degree, that they’re qualified.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Immoral to force kids to stay in bad schools
Q: Why don’t you support vouchers for low-income parents?CLINTON: I could not support vouchers that would take money away from schools where teachers are in partitioned hallways, where the teacher has the only textbook in the classroom. If we can get
class size down, if we can provide qualified teachers, we can make a difference. I support adding 100,000 teachers to lower class size. I support the bipartisan school construction funding authority that would permit New York to have school construction
without raising taxes.
LAZIO: I have voted twice to support hiring additional teachers. Under my plan, New York would not get shortchanged. Under Mrs. Clinton’s plan, New Yorkers would be subsidizing Southern states. I think it’s immoral to
force a child to go to a school where they can’t learn. Poor parents want to have the choice to give their children the education that I want for my children. I trust parents to make that decision, and that’s a major philosophical difference.
Source: (X-ref Hillary) Senate debate in Manhattan
Oct 8, 2000
Buffalo teacher’s strike illegal; get back to classrooms
Q: Here in Buffalo, union teachers are illegally on strike at this moment. The school board is strapped for funds, and both parents and students are caught right in the middle. Do you support their current job action even though it’s illegal under New
York’s Taylor Law? CLINTON: Well, I am hoping that they’re negotiating and will be back in the classroom full-time without any other problems. The children deserve that and we need to get education started this year. I’m very much committed to
doing everything I can to move the education agenda forward. And I do support the idea that the teachers should be working and their action against the Taylor Law is illegal, and I do not believe that that’s appropriate.
LAZIO: I am opposed to
teachers striking where it is against the law. In this case, it has been deemed illegal. They need to get back to the classroom, and we should put as our first priority, teaching our children.
Source: Clinton-Lazio debate, Buffalo NY
Sep 13, 2000
$97 Billion Education Plan
| Lazio’s $97 Billion Education Plan |
|---|
|
| Loan forgiveness for teachers’ college tuition. | $5.75 billion |
| Alternative Certification | $250
million |
| Mentoring to Novice Teachers | $500 million |
| Teacher testing | $5 billion |
| Special education (Disabilities Education Act grants) | $60 billion
|
| Science and technology ($3B to keep current; $1B for math & science areas) | $4 billion |
| School vouchers (“opportunity scholarships”) | $5 billion |
| Flexible funds (“Hometown
Choice”) | $10 billion |
| School construction & renovation | $5 billion |
Source: NY Times
Sep 12, 2000
Provide opportunity for education for all children
Every child in America deserves the best education possible. Good education is the key to a bright and successful future. Congress is getting many things done for our children. We are sending money directly to the classroom, buying more computers,
ensuring teachers & children feel safe in schools, giving parents more control over school choice, and making college more affordable. [We should give] our children every educational opportunity that leads to their independence and personal satisfaction.
Source: Issues Briefing, www.lazio.com
May 4, 2000
Supports easier certification & mentoring new teachers
The Teacher Empowerment Act (TEA) is designed to improve teacher quality by supporting initiatives to keep the best teachers in the classroom. TEA provides $2 billion over five years from existing programs for teacher training initiatives and class size
reduction. 92% of this money goes directly to the local level. The Lazio Amendment to the TEA focuses on:- Addressing the high turnover rate among beginning teachers by strengthening the essential components of mentoring programs. It provides
state funding for mentoring programs to help all new teachers with professional advice and support from veteran teachers. The amendment requires that teachers mentor others in their same field of expertise.
- Making it easier for professionals
to adopt teaching as a second career. It gives state incentives and maximum flexibility to create alternative teacher certification and licensure programs to recruit well-educated and talented people into the teaching profession.
Source: Issues Briefing, www.lazio.com
May 4, 2000
Instill standards via local control over spending
We’ve got to instill standards in our schools. We’ve got to make sure that the diploma your child gets will help him or her get a job in the next century. To accomplish this we need to spend our education dollars in the classroom, not on bureaucrats.
We need to reward good teachers for their hard work. And we need to recognize that every community, every school, is unique so we need to find local solutions.
Source: Speech to the Monroe County Conservative Party
Aug 27, 1999
Ed-Flex gives school spending flexibility
Ed-Flex allows schools across the country to decide how to spend more than $10 billion annually in federal education dollars. To provide our children with the best education possible, the parents, teachers and administrators who care about our
children need a stronger voice in education. They need to be the ones who decide where education dollars are spent. Ed-Flex is a good first step towards the goal we all share: guaranteeing that America to be the world’s educational leader.
Source: Speech to the Monroe County Conservative Party
Aug 27, 1999
Teacher testing; merit pay; block grants for teachers
Lazio supports the following principles regarding education:- Support voluntary teacher testing and reward teachers with merit pay.
- Increase funding for block grants to states to help them hire additional teachers.
Source: National Political Awareness Test 1998 (vote-smart.org)
Jul 2, 1998
Rick Lazio on School Choice
Vouchers help the poor escape failing schools
Q: Do you support vouchers for private schools? CLINTON: I’ve visited schools throughout the state and some of them are among the finest in the world that you could find anywhere. But others are overcrowded, under-resourced. That’s why I put forth a
plan to try to get the teachers that we need and to provide the funds that are required for modernizing our schools, as well as setting high standards, making them safe from violence. I do not support vouchers. And the reason I don’t is because
I don’t think we can afford to siphon dollars away from our underfunded public schools.
LAZIO: I believe that it’s immoral to ask a child to go to a school where they can’t learn or where they’re not safe. 80 percent of African-American and Hispanic
parents feel that they need it. Why should we trap poor kids in failing schools simply because the teachers unions won’t agree with it?
Source: Clinton-Lazio debate, Buffalo NY
Sep 13, 2000
Vouchers for private school tuition
On Education. Lazio supported vouchers to help parents pay their children’s private school tuition, and he voted to allow states to deny public education to illegal immigrants.
Source: David Rosenbaum, New York Times
Jun 4, 2000
Supports limited vouchers & charter schools
Lazio supports the following principles regarding school choice: - Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any publicly funded school.
- Allow parents to use tax-free savings accounts to send
their children to any participating school: public, private or religious.
- Support creation of more charter schools where teachers and professionals receive authorization and funding to establish new schools.
Source: National Political Awareness Test 1998 (vote-smart.org)
Jul 2, 1998
Voted YES on allowing vouchers in DC schools.
Vote to create a non-profit corporation to administer federally-funded vouchers for low-income children in the District of Columbia.
Reference: Amendment introduced by Armey, R-TX;
Bill HR 4380
; vote number 1998-411
on Aug 6, 1998
Voted YES on vouchers for private & parochial schools.
Vote to pass a bill to allow states to use certain federal funds designated for elementary and secondary education to provide scholarships, or vouchers, to low-income families to send their children to private schools, including religious schools.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Riggs, R-CA;
Bill HR 2746
; vote number 1997-569
on Nov 4, 1997
Voted YES on giving federal aid only to schools allowing voluntary prayer.
Motion to add language to the "Goals 2000: Educate America Act" to give federal aid only to schools allowing voluntary prayer.
Bill HR 1804
; vote number 1994-85
on Mar 23, 1994