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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 441 169 CE 080 208 TITLE Education Success = Business Success. Hearing before the Committee on Small Business. United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, First Session. INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Small Business. REPORT NO Senate-Hrg-106-94 ISBN ISBN-0-16-058799-9 PUB DATE 1999-05-25 NOTE 154p. AVAILABLE FROM U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Basic Skills; *Educational Improvement; Elementary Secondary Education; *Entrepreneurship; Hearings; Job Skills; Literacy Education; Postsecondary Education; *School Business Relationship; *Small Businesses; Success; Vocational Education IDENTIFIERS Congress 106th ABSTRACT This document highlights a congressional hearing on expanding the debate on education to involve small businesses as active participants. Opening statements of the following three United States (U.S.) senators are provided: Christopher S. 5ond, John F. Kerry, and Olympia J. Snow. Testimony includes witness testimony, prepared statements, and other materials from individuals representing the American Management Association, New York, New York; Ball Publishing, Inc., Greenville, Ohio, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.; Albert Seisler Machine Corporation, Mohnton, Pennsylvania, and the National Federation of Independent Business, Washington, D.C.; State Farm Insurance Companies, Bloomington, Indiana, and the National Alliance of Business, Washington, D.C.; Lexington/Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce, Lexington, Virginia; and Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.(YLB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. CE S. HRG. 106-94 EDUCATION SUCCESS=BUSINESS SUCCESS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 25, 1999 _ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement I EDU ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproducedas received from the person or organization originating it. 1=1 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Printed for the Committee on Small Business a CO U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 67-698cc WMKNOMN:1999 cF3 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office U.) Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office; Washington, DC '20402 ISBN 0-16-058799-9 2 COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri,Chairman CONRAD BURNS, Montana JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts PAUL COVERDELL, Georgia CARL LEVIN, Michigan ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah TOM HARKIN, Iowa OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut MICHAEL ENE, Wyoming PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois MAX CLELAND, Georgia MIKE CRAPO, Idaho MARY LANDRIEU, Louisiana GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan EMILIA DLSANTO,Staff Director PAUL. COORSEY,Chief Counsel PATmciA R. FORBES,Democratic Staff Director CONTENTS OPENING STATEMENTS Page Bond, The Honorable Christopher S., chairman, Committee on Small Busi- ness, and a United States Senator from Missouri 1 Kerry, The Honorable John F., ranking member, Committee on Small Busi- ness, and aUnited.States Senator from Massachusetts 3 Snowe, The Honorable Olympia J., .a United States Senator from Maine 62 WITNESS TESTIMONY Greenberg, Eric Rolfe, director of management studies, American Manage- ment Association, New York, New York 9 Carol L. Ball, president and chief executive officer, Ball Publishing, Inc, Greenville, Ohio; and chairman, education, employment, and training com- mittee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 65 Goodling, Barbara Seisler, secretary/treasurer, Albert Seisler Machine Cor- poration, Mohnton, Pennsylvania; and member, National Federation of Independent Business, Washington, D.C. 73 Rust, Edward B., Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, State Farm Insur- ance Companies, Bloomington, Indiana; and chairman, National Alliance of Business, Washington, D.C. 80 Fujiwara, Kelly, chair, education committee, Lexington/Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce, Lexington, Virginia 88 ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED Bond, The Honorable Christopher S. Opening statement 1 Ball, Carol L. Testimony 65 Prepared statement 68 Crap, The Honorable Michael D. Prepared statement 144 Fitzgerald, The Honorable Peter G. Prepared statement 145 Fujiwara, Kelly Testimony 88 Attachments to statement 91 Goodling, Barbara Seisler Testimony 73 Prepared statement 75 Greenberg, Eric Rolfe Testimony 9 Prepared statement and attachments 12 Kerry, The Honorable John F. Opening statement 3 Prepared statement 6 Rust, Edward B. Testimony 80 Prepared statement and attachment 82 37. 4 w Page Snowe, The Honorable Olympia J. Prepared statement 62 COMMENTS FOR THE RECORD Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, David P. Driscoll, Commissioner of Education, Malden, Massachusetts, state- ment 147 EDUCATION SUCCESS = BUSINESS SUCCESS TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1999 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, Washington, D.C. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m. in room 428A, Russell Senate Office Building, the Honorable Christopher S. Bond (Chairman of the Committee) presiding. Present: Senators Bond, Snowe, and Kerry. OPENING STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSI- NESS, AND A UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM MISSOURI Chairman BOND. Good morning. The Senate Committee on Small Business will come to order. I understand that Senator Kerry is on his way here. He has been on his way for several minutes and I know what happens very often that people lie in wait in the halls to express matters of interest. So, we are going to get started and I think that Senator Kerry will be joining us very shortly. Today, we are holding a hearing on Education Success Equals Business Success. As we prepare ourselves, our businesses and our Nation for a new millennium, we must see, confront, and overcome the challenges we know lie before us. It is my opinion that one of the top priorities should be the education of our children. Some might question why we are holding a hearing in the Small Busi- ness Committee on education, but I think the answer is clear and I believe our witnesses will help us see the light. Theirs is a very simple formula. Education success does equal business success. I know that businesses, small or large, know their future success hinges on the educational achievements and the abilities of our students. Unfortunately, that education success is in question. Since 1971 combined college entrance exams scores have gone down. U.S. high school students have consistently performed worse than their coun- terparts throughout the world on math and science tests. Forty percent of our Nation's fourth-graders do not read at even a basic level. These poor statistics are never-ending and all are alarining. I have long believed that the best solutions are local solutions. We can think globally but we must act locally. Local control in my view is the key to improving our public education system. That is why I introduced a bill, S. 52, called "The Direct Check for Edu- cation Act." Just as businesses realize that a "one-size-fits-all ap- proach" with their customers usually does not work, the "one-size- (1) 6 2 fits-all approach" is also not working in our schools, when that one size is prescribed by the Federal Government. It is my view that school improvement will happen on a school- by-school basis, not because of a new Federal program or mandate. We have too many of those now. Most of them have resulted in bur- densome regulations, unfunded mandates, mounds of paperwork and unwarranted meddling. The Direct Check for Education Act will address this. There is broad-based recognition and we must try to do something new to improve our public education system. I was reading some informa- tion distributed by my Ranking Member, Senator Kerry, where he saidand since he is not here, I will quote him: There is no decision of greater importance to the long-term health, stability, and competitiveness of a Nation than the way we educate our children. We must commit ourselves to setting our education priorities and investing in the right places, in- creasing flexibility, and accountability. I am sure he will want to elaborate on that when he arrives. I agree. The future success of our country and our global market place, that is increasingly more competitive and more complex, is dependent upon the education success of our children. We should be doing everything we can to maintain our competitive advantage where we have it and regain it where we have lost it. Therefore, business interests, small and large, have a tremen- dous stake in our Nation's educational system and their input is imperative to making the improvements we need to prepare our children for a lifetime of achievement. The business community's stake in our Nation's education system has been demonstrated in recent years by the extreme difficulty that small businesses are having in finding qualified employees. As an example, for the first time in 25 years small businesses surveyed by the National Federa- tion