Copyright 1999 The Times-Picayune Publishing Co.
The Times-Picayune
February 28, 1999 Sunday, FIRST
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. A15
LENGTH: 584 words
HEADLINE:
BATTLE BEGINS OVER EDUCATION DOLLARS
BYLINE: By JUDY
HOLLAND Hearst Newspapers
BODY:
WASHINGTON -- A
marathon ideological battle gets under way in Congress this week over how best
to improve public schools.
Congressional Republicans want to loosen or
sever strings on federal education dollars so that state and local governments
can have greater flexibility in spending them.
But President Clinton and
Democratic lawmakers want to save many of the strings so the federal government
can continue to require the states to be accountable for how the money is spent.
Republicans are pushing again for tax credits or vouchers to help
parents afford private schools and GOP lawmakers are also touting the idea of
merit pay for public school teachers.
Democrats are pressing once more
to cut class size by adding new teachers, to improving teacher training and to
renovate decrepit school buildings.
Traditionally Democrats been the
ones pushing for more federal money for schools, but this year many Republicans
are calling for even higher amounts.
The jockeying has encouraged some
school advocates.
Joel Packer, a lobbyist for the National Education
Association, the nation's largest teacher union, says, "Neither party is going
to want to be accused of not supporting or investing in education."
Jack
Jennings, director of the Center on Education Policy, which supports federal aid
for schools, adds that "when the parties are competing to increase aid for
education, it's good for kids."
Skirmishes over education are
intensifying this year because recent polls show voters rank it as a top
priority and President Clinton has singled it out as one of his key issues. At
the same time, the five-year Elementary and Secondary Education
Act, which provides $14 billion annually to virtually every school
district in the country, is up for reauthorization.
Clinton's total
education budget for fiscal year 2000 calls for a 3.7 percent increase, bringing
it to $34.7 billion. For the last three years federal school spending has risen
12 to 15 percent annually. Education groups say they are disappointed in
Clinton's new budget, but they are expecting Republicans to boost it
significantly.
Earlier this month Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman
of the Senate Budget Committee, called for "a major injection of new money for
education." That's a big shift, coming from a party that in 1995 and 1996 tried
to eliminate the Department of Education.
The first of the policy wars
will begin Tuesday when the Senate takes up what looks like a bipartisan measure
-- the "Ed-Flex" bill that would give states rather than the federal government
the power to grant waivers for spending earmarked federal dollars.
The
bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and
supported by Clinton and all 50 governors, would extend the current Ed-Flex"
program from 12 to all 50 states. The House is working on a similar version that
is expected to come up for a vote in mid-March.
But the measure seems
sure to get bogged down in the two-party fight over teachers. Sens. Patty
Murray, D-Wash., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., announced last week they will
try to amend it with a proposal to continue funding Clinton's program to hire
100,000 teachers primarily for first through third grades.
Last year
Clinton asked for $12.4 billion over seven years for the new teachers, but
Congress sliced the amount to $1.2 billion for 30,000 teachers for the current
1999-2000 fiscal year. Murray and Kennedy are pressing to extend Clinton's
program another six years.
LOAD-DATE: March 8, 1999
