Opinion Editorial From U.S. Rep. James C. Greenwood Pennsylvania's 8th District
March 1999

Empowerment.

There is nothing better that we can do for our children than to provide them with an education that will develop within them the skills they will need for a lifetime.  Yet, forty percent of our nation's fourth graders fall below the basic level of reading achievement, and America's high school seniors are outperformed in mathematics by their peers in 18 other countries.

We are failing these children. They are not failing us.

Our nation's future lies in the ability of our children and grandchildren to succeed academically.  But we are not empowering them enough to succeed.  With the new challenges our educational system faces and the financial crunch faced by local school districts and taxpayers, America is struggling to serve-up a world class education.

Even with $135 billion appropriated to the Federal Department of Education over the past five years, the solution won't come from Washington.  The most critical decisions about how to best educate our children remain in the hands of the states and local school boards, not Washington bureaucrats.

The federal government can provide states and localities with the tools needed to devise innovative solutions that expand educational opportunities for every student.   But too often, education dollars are wasted on red tape and never even make it to the student struggling through third period algebra.
That is why the Congress is now ensuring that we put our children first.  As a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, I am focusing our initiatives that will cut federal education red tape and allow more creativity on the local level.

The House has just passed the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Program-- better know as Ed-Flex.  Ed-Flex frees responsible states from Washington regulations by delegating to the states the power to grant individual school districts temporary wavers from certain federal requirements that interfere with their efforts to improve education. To be eligible, a state must comply with core federal principles and must prove that it is making progress toward improving students' academic results.

Congress will also move forward in 1999 to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), an expansive federal law created to provide education assistance.  Today, ESEA is the Grand Central Station of K-12 federal education programs.  It includes more than a dozen programs and thousands of regulations that Congress needs to seriously reconsider.  I believe that by reforming ESEA we will succeed in cutting regulations and directing dollars toward quality programs and more teachers.

Republicans also want to send more "Dollars to the Classroom."  This legislative effort consolidates 31 federal education programs totaling $2.7 billion and drives dollars directly to local school districts.  By reducing bureaucracy and opening funds for these tightly restricted grant programs, the bill will send an additional $800 million to local schools.

I have particularly been an advocate of the educational needs of children with learning disabilities, under the Individuals with Disability in Education Act (IDEA).  I have pushed for the federal government to live-up to the commitment made 23 years ago to provide 40% of the funding for the cost of these children.  This unfunded mandate alone has robbed local schools of billions of dollars of their own funds.  If Congress met its obligation here, every school in America would be able to redirect its own revenue to wherever it has the greatest need.

Ultimately, these reforms allow public schools to wisely spend money in their budgets to address their particular educational needs.  Whether it be school construction, more teachers, new technology or keeping local taxes low,  I believe the federal government needs to empower states, local school districts, parents and most importantly our children the instruments to meet the demands of the 21st Century.

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