ever bill that may emerge from this subcommittee. So we would be glad to make that part of our general discussion and general effort in terms of crafting a bill when we reach markup.

Senator DENTON. Well, just one sentence, sir, and this would be my final comment. It says, Senator Pell's bill to provide program financial assistance to the States in order to strengthen-and my memo may be wrong from my staff-instruction in mathematics, science, computer education, and vocational education, and foreign languages. And it is all addressed at a math/science need, and so forth

And I just wonder why the English was left out of it.

Senator STAFFORD. Let us consider that when we reach markup. Senator DENTON. Thank you.

Senator Kennedy.

Senator KENNEDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think the Senator from Alabama has just made a case for this Nation's continued recognition of education as a local responsibility and of the impor tant role for the States and the Federal Government in support of the local effects.

I agree with the Senator from Alabama that we do not solve our problems domestically by throwing money at them but I remind the Senator that we also cannot do it in the areas of national security either. And if we find ourselves with a functionally illiterate population, we are not going to have a very effective military operation, as well. I think that we should recognize that.

There are just a couple of concerns that I have, Mr. Secretary, in the areas of math and science. First, how are we going to make sure that this program does not become an elitist kind of a program? How can we be sure that math and science education gets out to all the students?

I have my own ideas and suggestions on this subject? I welcome the opportunity to work with the chairman of the committee and the ranking member, who have always been enormously responsive to any ideas that any of the members of this committee or the Senate, to achieve its objective.

Second, does it not make sense to provide these kinds of programs at the elementary and secondary school level and in colleges rather than to focus exclusively on secondary schools and colleges?

Secretary BELL. Yes. First on the elitist matter, I think the best encouragement we have that that is not going to happen is the fact that school boards all across the country and State boards of education are raising the requirements that are applicable to everyone, that they take more mathematics and more science.

I feel that a general upgrading-if you have to have 3 years of math, algebra I, and algebra II, and then, say, trig and geometry as a minimum to graduate-all students have to take that, then that is going to apply to all of them except those few that are so handicapped that they cannot study in this area.

I think that is the best assurance that we have. Now, in our most populous State, the State of California, their State board of education has just made some very dramatic recommendations in these increases. They do not just apply to the more talented students; they apply to all students as a requirement for graduation.

So there is a general upgrading going on there, Senator Kennedy. I am encouraged by that.

On the other point that you made, I would simply say that with the local board control as it is and with the commitment that I am seeing all over the country, we are going to see more resources being spent in these subject areas, and I agree that we simply must strengthen our math and science instruction in these areas all the way along the line. The reason the administration bill targets where it does is the limited amount of money that was available for it. But I agree, Senator, with what I thought was the leading implication of the question, which is that there needs to be a general strengthening on all levels.

Senator KENNEDY. I would hope that we would see that in the bill we report. I have not seen much of an indication of this as yet. Mr. Secretary, if you take the number of slots that are open, for example, for math or science teachers in this country or take the number of elementary teachers who are not trained to teach math and science, it is really appalling.

Secretary BELL. It is. I agree.

Senator KENNEDY. I think we are going to need to provide opportunities for elementary and secondary teachers to upgrade their own skills in these areas. I think that there is an important role for the Federal Government in providing these opportunities.

Mr. Secretary, can you tell us what your request of OMB was in this particular program?

Secretary BELL. This program evolved in the midst of our negotiations, after I had already received my budget allowance. We started with an initial allowance of $9 billion, and with the help of the President we got it up to $13.2 billion. After that we began work on the math-science initiative. We began to describe what the problem was, and how we ought to be showing our concern for this.

When the president agreed to it, the requirement was that we work it out within the confines of the $13.2 billion. So that was the problem that I had at the time. That in my original budget under the budget allowance, I did not propose this. I was not free to because we were still debating whether or not we were going to go for a new math-science initiative.

There are those that argue that there ought not to be any Federal assistance at all. So you have to swim upstream against that. You have to get the President to agree with you that he will support a new Federal aid to education initiative. And I was grateful that the President was willing to support us on that.

Senator KENNEDY. Of course, if you look at this initiative, the concern that many of us have is that you are talking $50 million spread over 50 States and 15,000 school districts. That works out to only about $1 per student. I think one of the issues is the dimension of the program and the dimension of our commitment. Is it really going to be a program of significance, or are we going to find out in another year that we tried this program and not been effective. Therefore, we would abandon it because we did not invest sufficiently in it.

We have gone over that in the past. My concern is that it is just spread so thin, so little. We are really going to raise expectationsfalse expectations-that this country is really trying to do some

thing about math and science. Yet we will not be doing anything. I think that that is a matter of concern.

Secretary BELL. My concern, Senator, as I indicated before you came in, is that the No. 1 problem, in my opinion-and I think most agree with this-is that we have a terrible shortage of math and science teachers.

And in spite of the fact that some other bills go up to $400 milhion, none of them reserve and target as much money as our $50 million bill targets on scholarships to produce additional teachers. So I think whatever bill passes, I would hope that we would target more heavily in that area than we now do. What you need, especially in mathematics, is a capable teacher and the text in the classroom. And we need more targeting on that, or all of the bills can be spread so thin, even the $400 million bill if we do place greater emphasis on that problem.

You see, ours is focused only on a new-I realize that this is subject to criticism.

Senator KENNEDY. Yes.

Secretary BELL. But with limited money, we limited it to high school because that is where the shortage is and that is where the training is. You need to look at the high school population, and I suppose if you divided the 45 million students in the United States into the $400 million, you could shake your head and say, it is a pittance.

We have to concentrate and target our resources on the problem. And we have to recognize that this money is going to supplement and surely not supplant what State and local are doing in that regard

Senator KENNEDY. Finally, I welcome the chance for the educators to make the judgment with regards to the education budget. I think all of us understand that budget restraints exist, but I would hope that the educators will be making the recommendations, rather than OMB.

I do not expect you to make a comment on this, but I hear there are certain allocations, and it is usually by OMB, rather than by the educators in our society who by training and tradition and by concern and conviction should be making those decisions.

That is always a matter of concern.

Secretary BELL. I just observe that from an initial allowance of $9 billion, the President supported me in getting a considerable increase I appreciate that and surely want to give the President credit for it.

Senator KENNEDY. While, I am delighted that we are able to get some increase, I resent the fact that the OMB is making the decision with regards to these questions and that you are having to respond to that requirement.

If I could submit other questions, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your indulgence and time.

Senator STAFFORD. Certainly, certainly.

Senator KENNEDY. I would just like to point out for Senator Denton-and I regret that my colleague is not here to hear thisthat the Constitution says, "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the gener

al welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity."

The first words in the Constitution are "establish justice." And that includes social justice. That even comes before some of the other provisions. I think this committee has long been concerned about this and that education is extremely important in "establishing justice."

We welcome you, Secretary Bell.

Secretary BELL. Thank you, Senator.

Senator STAFFORD. Thank you very much, Senator Kennedy. And Mr. Secretary, as always, you have helped the subcommittee. You are always welcome here. I think you know that. And we appreciate you having taken the time to be with us this morning.

Secretary BELL. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Senator STAFFORD. The first panel that will join the committee this morning-and we would ask that they come to the witness table now-will be Mr. Willard McGuire, president, National Education Association; Mr. Albert Shanker, president, American Federation of Teachers; Dr. Patricia Graham, dean, graduate school of education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Senator KENNEDY. Mr. Chairman, I, too, would like to join in welcoming our panel here this morning. I think we are extremely fortunate to have this array of individuals to help us sort through this issue. I look forward to their testimony.

Senator STAFFORD. Thank you very much, Senator Kennedy. For the subcommittee, we welcome the panel this morning. We never have enough time here to do justice to the distinguished witnesses who join us and help us, and that seems to be true again this morning.

To try and stay on track, we do have that traffic signal system, which reminds me personally too much of driving in to work in the morning. But I am told it is timed for 4 minutes on the green, 1 on yellow, and then the 5 minutes has expired.

So we would ask you, if you can, to summarize your written statements. Your full written statements will be placed in the record as if read. And having said that, we would invite you to go ahead.

Mr. McGuire, do you want to go first?

STATEMENTS OF WILLARD MCGUIRE, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION; ALBERT SHANKER, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS; AND PATRICIA ALBJERG GRAHAM, DEAN, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

Mr. MCGUIRE. Thank you, Chairman Stafford and Senator Kennedy. I am Willard McGuire, president of the 1.7 million member National Education Association, which represents teachers, higher education faculty, and educational support personnel in all of the 50 States.

As a representative of nearly four-fifths of the Nation's public schoolteachers, and as a classroom teacher of math and Spanish, I appreciate and welcome this opportunity to comment on the legis

lation before this committee that is designed to improve instruction in math and science for our Nation's young.

We commend the chairman for holding these hearings on providing assistance from the Federal level to local schools and higher education institutions to develop an immediate response to science and math needs.

The problems and deficiencies in the area of math, science, and new technologies are growing to crisis proportion, and we owe it to our young people to respond now.

Today we stand at the crossroads. Public investment in education is being questioned at a time when studies have documented that scientific and technical learning, as well as communication in foreign language study in the United States have failed to keep pace with the phenomenal advances of the past two decades.

In fact, learning in these two areas has actually declined, and increasingly American youth across the land are not adequately prepared to take on the economic, technological, and national security challenges facing the Nation. In addition, there is a growing shortage of math and science teachers with chronic vacancies occurring

in some areas.

Our concerns in this area are further documented in the appendix to this statement.

How should Congress deal with these problems? Three alternatives suggest the range of possibilities. First, the administration proposes taking $50 million out of chapter II Bloc Grant funds to establish a scholarship program for individuals who within 1 year's time could be qualified to teach math or science at the secondary level This quick-fix approach merely puts a bandaid on the prob lem and ignores the need for better science and math instruction at the elementary level. And it provides no tools for planning and implementing a comprehensive program that will make all of education responsive to the total problem.

Second, the committee is considering S. 530, a far better approach that takes into account such additional areas as foreign language instruction, improved vocational education offerings, teacher training, and employment-based programs. And this bill authorizes $400 million a year for 3 years.

And third, there is the American Defense Education Act [ADEA] which is the most comprehensive program to address the two top priorities of the Nation today: economic recovery and national security

ADEA provides incentives for local schools to improve the quality of education, especially in math and science, but also in foreign languages, communications skills, new technology, and to prepare students for employment, technical training, and for higher educa

tion.

How do teachers rate these bills? Mr. Chairman, the NEA has developed criteria attached to the appendix to my statement which provide an important evaluative framework for consideration of any math and science proposal coming before Congress. In this context, I would like to return to S. 530.

NEA criteria recommends that 95 percent of the funds be directed to the local education agency level. It is at the local level that