Friday, March 05, 1999
School flexibility on spending backed
Federal bill gaining support
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Members of Kentucky's congressional delegation are getting behind legislation that will give local school districts more control over spending federal education money.
Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Southgate, Democratic Rep. Ken Lucas of Richwood and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Louisville say they will support the Education Flexibility Partnership Act, known as the Ed-Flex.
The bill, currently in the Senate, is also backed by President Clinton and the National Governors' Association.
In addition to giving local school systems greater discretion over spending, Ed-Flex would also allow districts to make more decisions on their own.
“Too often, decisions are made at the federal level by bureaucrats who have little knowledge of the needs of schools at the local level, leaving teachers, principals and local school boards with their hands tied,” Mr. Lucas said.
“This will help do away with many burdensome federal regulations, giving more decision-making power to the local level,” he said.
The Ed-Flex program began in 1994 as a pilot effort in six states. It doubled in 1996 to 12 states — Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Vermont.
In exchange for increased accountability, the program
gives local school districts greater control over how federal education funds can be spent on locally designed school improvement initiatives.
If passed by Congress, the program would be expanded to all 50 states. “This will ensure that 95 percent of local dollars stay with the local school districts and are not sent to Washington and the federal government's education bureaucracy,” Mr. Bunning said.
Some Democrats in the Senate, however, may not support the bill.
Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, a liberal Democrat, opposes the bill because he says there is no research to prove that the five-year demonstration project under way in a dozen states has improved education. He said a November 1998 report by the General Accounting Office, which audits federal programs, found inconclusive results so far.
Mr. Wellstone also said poor and minority pupils could suffer under an expanded program because states and school districts could get around accountability provisions in the federal law that directs education funds to those children.
“This piece of legislation doesn't lead to any additional opportunity for low-income children,” said Mr. Wellstone, noting that the measure would not increase funding to pay for other needs — including more teachers and early education, nutrition and school repair programs.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., whose state is one of 12 participating in the pilot, rejected arguments that the program hurts children. “There are no examples of abuse ... not one,” he said.
Mr. Wyden, a co-sponsor of the bill with Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., cited a Maryland school that was able to cut its class sizes from 25 pupils to 12.
The Ed-Flex program also gave low-income Oregon high school students opportunities to take college-level computer courses, he said. They had been limited to enrolling in the courses offered by their high school.
Mr. McConnell said he thinks the bill will pass Congress and be signed into law by Mr. Clinton. “Ed-Flex is designed to simplify the whole process. It's a good bill ... and we think we have a pretty good opportunity to get this bill passed.”
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