05-13-2000

EDUCATION: Senate Defeats Centrist Education Plan

As debate continued on a $20 billion reauthorization of the 1965
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Senate on May 9 overwhelmingly
voted down a centrist compromise offered by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman,
D-Conn. Centrist New Democrats had high hopes for Lieberman's bill, which
would have consolidated a number of education programs, channeled money to
poor students, and revoked money for poorly performing schools. But the
proposal garnered only 13 votes, none of them Republican. Traditional
Democrats criticized Lieberman's bill as hurting poor children and cutting
the President's priorities. The Senate did pass an amendment by Majority
Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would
protect educators from liability when disciplining children. Senate debate
may continue next week on the education legislation amid consideration of
appropriations bills, and Democrats say they are committed to offering
gun-safety amendments, particularly on the heels of Washington's
"Million Mom March."


April Fulton/CongressDaily

National Journal