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| Our strong union... |
January 28, 2002 |
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Dear Friends,
As most of you know, I live here in New Mexico and commute back and forth to Washington for votes and committee hearings. Tomorrow I`m headed back to Washington to hear the President talk about the State of the Union.
I`ve always felt comfortable with the Washington side of the job, but it`s the community part of the job that I really love. And the last few weeks at home have been great.
I went back to visit Mrs. Schatzinger`s 2nd grade class at Griegos Elementary School where the President came to visit on the first day of school this year. I went back on the day the President signed the massive Education reform bill so many people worked so hard on. Like my own second grader, they are growing like weeds and full of wonderfully direct questions -- like what my New Year`s resolution was. We talked about how an idea becomes a law and what this new law will mean for their school and other schools in New Mexico.
Financially, the "No Child Left Behind Act" will mean more money will get to our schools -- about $57 million more for New Mexico this year. Principals and school districts will have more flexibility on how to use that money to teach our kids. There will be more support for reading and for teacher training. There will be more accountability for results, and parents will
have choices within the public school system as well as tutoring backed by federal resources if a school is not meeting state standards.
In addition to Griegos, I visited Mark Twain and La Mesa elementaries last week, visiting with parents and teachers, answering questions and talking with children.
There are moments in this job that stick with you like snapshots in an album. Mark Twain has a special education program for severely disabled children. A special education kindergarten class was having circle time with a regular education group of first graders. I was just watching from the edge of the classroom as they posted the day and the date and decided on the weather report.
There was a first grade boy, one of the biggest kids in the group, who was sitting on the floor next to a kindergartener with Downs Syndrome. Every time the little boy`s head phones he wears to help him hear the teacher would slip, the older boy would help him fix them. He helped him stand up and helped him sit back down when the younger boy went to the board. He wasn`t
asked by the teacher or by the little boy to help. He wasn`t prodded or given one of those looks from an adult that tells a child something is expected of them. He was just a helpful, caring boy looking out for somebody
else. Somtimes, that`s not that common in a first grader.
If I knew his parents, I`d tell them they are doing a good job raising a good boy. They should be proud of him.
I think New Mexico`s youth are a good barometer of the state of our union. And the state of our union today is strong.
See you soon,
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