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The
Beginning of the End for the 106th Congress and the Clinton
Administration
By
Jeff Simmering, Director, Legislative Services
 Calendar year 2000 marks the
start of the final year of the Clinton Administration and of the
106th Congress. Education issues, particularly the completion
of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA), will be prominent. The next few months will launch the
implementation of the budget and appropriations agreements from last
fall, the framework of next year's budget battle, and final action
of both the House and Senate on the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act.
Beyond the major increased appropriations last November in areas
such as special education allocations, after- school competitive
grants, and specially earmarked allotments, two significant new
federal requirements were added to existing programs: 1) a
public school choice option was mandated for under-performing Title
I schools in accordance with current state and local law on such
transfers; and 2) a fully qualified teacher requirement was added to
the class-size reduction program.
The Department of Education is expected to release guidelines in
early February on the Title I public school choice provision and in
late February on the fully qualified teacher provision.
Also in early February, President Clinton will issue his last
federal budget proposal for the country. School construction
and repair will be a top priority with a new $1.3 billion loan/grant
program added to the $25 billion tax credit proposal. It is
expected that the class-size reduction program and the after-school
program will be slated for healthy increases. An array of
small new program initiatives is also on the drawing board.
However, it is entirely unclear whether the cornerstone education
programs for special needs children, like Title I, Title VII, and
special education, will receive a similar level of Administration
attention.
The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
continues to make steady progress through the Congress. The
House has completed the special needs titles, including Title I,
VII, and Magnet Schools, as well as the teacher-oriented programs
through a consolidation of professional development, Goals 2000 and
class-size reduction.
At least two additional House bills will round out the
reauthorization in February and March with early literacy and impact
aid on deck, and technology, innovation, and safe and drug schools
to follow. The Senate is expected to begin committee action on
a single comprehensive reauthorization bill in February as
well.
Critical issues of local authority over programs and targeted
funding arise in both the House and Senate bills.
Additionally, well-intentioned but potentially cumbersome new
federal requirements in areas of employing only fully qualified
teachers, public school choice, comparability, accountability,
school discipline, and non-social promotion appear in either the
Administration's bill, or the House or Senate measures.
Finally, the highly charged issues of state-controlled education
block grants under the majority's ``Straight A's" bill and the
voucher-like Title I ``Portability" proposal ensure a rough road to
bipartisan passage of the Education Amendments of 2000.
Education issues are again front and center in this election
year. And candidates of all stripes will be scrambling to
ensure that their positions are constructive. It promises to be a
challenging year. | 
