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Congress has full agenda of education bills8/29/00 – The following is a review of the major education issues under consideration by the 106th Congress. More information is available on the advocacy section of NSBA's Web page. Special education funding Congressional conferees reached a tentative agreement July 27, just before Congress went on recess, on legislation to reconcile the differences between the education appropriations bills passed by the House and Senate. The conferees did not file the report, and it is unclear whether Congress will vote on the conference report after the recess or use it as a basis for negotiations with the White House. Based on the tentative agreement, the conferees are expected to accept the provision in the Senate bill for a $1.3 billion increase for special education funding for fiscal year 2001. The House bill includes an increase of only $500 million. Full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a top priority for NSBA. As the cost of special education continues to rise—due to growing enrollments of eligible students, along with new mandates requiring districts to pay for more medical-related services—school districts are being forced to cut back in other areas to meet their federal obligation under IDEA. At the same time, Congress has repeatedly shirked its commitment to pay for 40 percent of the excess cost of its special education mandate. The federal commitment has ranged from 7 to 13 percent. The tentative agreement on appropriations also proposes folding class-size reduction ($1.4 billion) and school construction ($1.3 billion) into the Title VI program, which would be funded at approximately $3.1 billion. The President has indicated he will veto a bill that does not provide separate funding streams for those initiatives. The agreement calls for a $300 million increase in Title I basic and concentration grants for local school districts, for a total of $8.2 billion. This amount includes $150 million for hold-harmless provisions, which provide more money for states with large increases in student enrollments. Several other items were included in the appropriations agreement. One provision, supported by NSBA, would prohibit the use of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements on projects funded by Title VI. This would allow local districts to use the lowest bidder on Title VI-funded school construction projects. The conferees approved a proposal to require schools and libraries using federal technology funds to install filters on Internet connections. Schools would have to receive certification from the U.S. Education Department that they have installed filters. Failure to do so would make them ineligible for e-rate discounts. NSBA opposes the amendment because Internet access already is determined at the district level. Reauthorization of ESEA At this point, there is virtually no chance there will be any action on reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) before 2001. Congress will be in session for only a few weeks before adjourning early for the elections, leaving little time to pass the necessary bills and resolve the broad difference between the House and Senate versions. In the meantime, the current ESEA law continues to remain in effect until it is reauthorized and will continue to be funded through the appropriations process. During the first session of the 106th Congress, the House passed three bills as part of the ESEA reauthorization: • The Teacher Empowerment Act (H.R.1995) would consolidate several programs aimed at improving teacher quality. • The Academic Achievement for All Act (H.R.2300) would consolidate programs into state block grants. NSBA opposes H.R.2300 on the grounds that program consolidation should occur at the district level, not the state level. • The Student Results Act (H.R.2) would strengthen education reform and accountability, promote school district flexibility, impose higher standards for teachers, and target funds to the neediest districts. In April, the House Education and the Workforce Committee passed the OPTIONS (Educational Opportunities to Protect and Invest in our Nation's Students) bill (H.R. 4141), which includes the remaining ESEA components the committee had not previously considered, including drug and violence prevention and technology. NSBA supports a "transferability" provision, which would give local districts more authority to determine how to spend federal funding under several education programs. The Senate has delayed consideration of its version of the ESEA reauthorization, the Education Opportunities Act (S.2), which was passed by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee March 9. NSBA has two major concerns with this bill: It would allow Title I funds to be used to pay private tutorial providers, which raises First Amendment objections. And it would support the consolidation of funds at the state level rather than at the district level where flexibility is most needed. Educational research The House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth, and Families approved a bill July 27 to replace the Education Department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) with a new National Academy for Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, and Information. The original proposal called for the new academy to be separate from the Education Department to ensure that education research would be independent of political influence. NSBA had raised concerns with moving the research function out of the Education Department, and the bill passed by the subcommittee retains the new academy within the department. It would be headed by a director—to serve a six-year term—appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. NSBA supports a provision in the bill that would authorize up to $11.8 million for "school-based, customer-driven technical assistance" grants. The secretary of education would award competitive grants to state education agencies. At least 95 percent of the funds would then be awarded on a competitive basis to local school districts, with a high priority to districts with large percentages of students from low-income families. The House Education and the Workforce Committee may consider the legislation after Congress returns Sept. 5. No comparable legislation has been introduced in the Senate. Other legislation • Education savings accounts. When the Senate passed a bill to repeal the death tax July 14, it considered an amendment that included a variety of controversial provisions, including creation of education savings accounts, which families could use for private school tuition. The amendment failed by an 84-14 margin. NSBA opposes the use of federal funds to support private education. • Military recruiters. An amendment was introduced to the Defense Department authorization bill to encourage greater access by military recruiters to public schools. As originally proposed, the amendment would have denied all federal funds to schools that bar access to recruiters. NSBA lobbied against the amendment, arguing it would create an administrative nightmare for schools and would harm students, particularly those most in need. The amendment was revised. It now requires schools to notify state officials and the secretary of defense if they bar recruiters. School districts would retain the authority to determine whether recruiters have access to schools. • School safety. A congressional conference on juvenile justice legislation—which included an amendment on special education discipline—has been bogged down over disagreements on gun restrictions and is unlikely to be considered any time soon. NSBA had succeeded in securing passage of an amendment that would have given school officials the discretion to suspend or expel special education students on the same basis as other students who bring firearms to school. School officials also would be allowed to determine whether educational services are provided during the suspension.
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