Senate+Bill+Number+AMDT.3396

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media type="file" key="S.AMDT.3396.mp3"

=Senate Bill Number AMDT.3396=

Point
To invest in innovation and education to improve the competitiveness of the United States in Global Economy. In other words, to find new methods in technology to make school more interesting so that more students pay attention and less people drop out.

Sponsor
Main Sponsor- Charles (Chuck) Grassley- Republican Other Sponsor- Bernard Sanders- Independent

Congressional Record
Introduced on October 18, 2007. Senate Amendment to House Bill Number 3043, which was introduced on July 13, 2007. On November 15, 2007, House Bill Number 3043 failed of passage in House through voice vote. Status is pending (on passage).

Reason
American test scores are dropping, our dropout rate is skyrocketing, and as you all know, our economy isn't doing so well. With so many uneducated people, our economy compared to other countries will most certainly not do well. We need something that keeps people in school, and makes them learn what they need to know to succeed so that in the future, our economy will do better, and we will remain as a leading economic power.

**American's Average Highschoolers:**

 * Many people agree that the quality of U.S public education has declined since the 1960s, While others argue that we have made progress since 1960.
 * There have been rapidly dropping SAT scores.
 * From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, average SAT scores fell from 478 to 423 on the verbal/reading section, while scores on the SAT math section dropped from 502 to 479.
 * Test results in high school courses show deterioration compared to other industrial nations.
 * On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, answers given by __17 year olds__ show that:
 * 1) 1/3 of them thought that Columbus reached the new world after 1750.
 * 2) 1/3 had no idea what Brown Vs. Board of Education changed.
 * 3) 62% didn't know when the civil war took place.
 * 4) 1/3 could not identify Abraham Lincoln.
 * 5) 47% could not express 9/100 as a percent.
 * 6) Half couldn't calculate the area of a rectangle.
 * 7) Only 6% were proficient in what was considered average high school math a generation ago, which include algebra, geometry, and multiple-step problem solving. (Keep in mind, these statistics are based on answers given by __17 year olds__)
 * 8) 1/3 did not know that the Mississippi river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico.
 * Milton Goldberg, vice president of the National Alliance of Business and long time educator says, " ...but the reality is that too many students are graduating without the schooling that's necessary. Others aren't graduating, and this //can drain our nation''s economy of its productivity.//"

**American's Scores Compared to Other Leading Economic Countries**

 * Studies by Unicef in 2003 ranked U.S, education 18th out of 24 countries.
 * Studies by PISA in 2006 showed American students average test scores were 21st out of 30 in Science, and 25th out of 30 in math. These declined dramatically since 2000 (nearly 8 to 10 places). So what caused these dramatic changes in test scores? In math and science grades 4 through 12, the grades are steadily declining. Participation dramatically decreases between 4th to 12th grade. The U.S. has a below average number of top performers, but our middle and low performers are average compared to other countries.
 * 76% of U.S seniors spend less than 5 hours a week on homework, compared to only 35% in Japan.
 * 43% of U.S high school students study a foreign language, compared to 90% in Spain.
 * Despite all this depressing information, on a positive point, 60% of U.S students meet or beat the averages of students in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

**Government Funding $$:**

 * The U.S. Government spends around $865,500,000,000 annually on education. The U.S. has the second highest annual expenditure per student in the world. The only country that spends more is Switzerland, whose test scores are dramatically better than ours.

**Other Countries Policies/Laws:**

 * In the United Kingdom, children are require to be in school from ages 5 to 16. (Except for Northern Ireland)
 * In most Canadian Provinces, children are required to have at least 10 years of education.

Photo by Alek Wobeck :D