05-06-2000

EDUCATION: Education Is in Senate's Center Ring

The Senate on May 1 began what is expected to be a lengthy and highly
partisan election-year debate on reauthorizing the 1965 Elementary and
Secondary Education Act. The Republican bill would essentially make the 7
percent of education funding that comes from the feds available to states
as block grants. On May 3, the Senate voted down a Democratic substitute,
45-54, that would have required the funds to go toward reducing class
sizes, constructing schools, expanding after-school programs, and placing
new technology in the classroom. The ESEA legislation may be one of the
last major authorization bills to come up in the Senate this year, which
makes it an irresistible target for a variety of amendments. Debate is
expected to continue into next week, but Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott, R-Miss., could cut it off sooner if Democrats insist on gun control
or campaign finance reform amendments. Throughout the week, centrist New
Democrats had a moment in the spotlight, when Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman,
D-Conn., Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and John Breaux, D-La., met with Republicans
to try to broker a deal for passage of the bill.


April Fulton/CongressDaily

National Journal