SECTION: A; Pg. 20

LENGTH: 249 words

HEADLINE: MORE EXPENSIVE;
Clinton's school plan contains some hidden costs

SOURCE: Staff

BODY:
President Clinton is proposing $ 22 billion in tax credits over the next two years to encourage lenders to participate in a special federal school program for the construction and renovation of public schools.

The proposal, of course, would increase the federal government's control over public school construction, which is and has traditionally been the responsibility of local school boards and the states. Bill Clinton will do anything to enhance his legacy, and involving the federal government more closely in the construction and renovation of local public schools would be a move for the history books.

But as the Heritage Foundation points out, the president's proposal would require school systems that apply for the loans to agree to pay federal prevailing Davis-Bacon wages to construction workers.

Local school districts would end up paying higher costs for the renovation of buildings and construction of new schools, more than is paid for similar building work in many of their communities.

The president has correctly identified the public interest in education and the serious problems schools across the country are having with dilapidated buildings and facilities.

His solution, however, is highly questionable.

And in this election year, it's a legitimate question to ask whether this plan is truly about addressing the problems of the schools and the taxpayers or meant as a sop to organized labor, one of the Democratic Party's traditional power bases.



TYPE: Editorial Opinion

LOAD-DATE: March 1, 2000