Arizona Daily Star -- azstarnet.com
http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/080-3451.html
Thursday, 28 January 1999
Governor, ex-governor urge limited U.S. role in schools
WASHINGTON (AP) - A current governor and a former governor urged Congress yesterday
to limit the federal government's role in education, saying the Education Department
should not become a federal school board.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and former Ohio Gov. George V. Voinovich, both Republicans,
said states and local school districts should be given flexibility to innovate.
``Unleash the creativity of states, hold us accountable and give us the opportunity
to partner with you,'' Ridge told the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Congress is to consider legislation this year to renew federal programs for grades
kindergarten through 12.
President Clinton said in his State of the Union address last week that he would
seek $200 million to help states fix their schools and $600 million to triple funding
for after-school and summer catch-up programs for failing students.
Administration officials also are working on proposals to tie the $15 billion that
states get from the federal education budget to Clinton's accountability goals, which
include requirements that schools stop promoting students who are failing and that
states fix or shut down low-performing schools.
On school construction, Voinovich said Clinton's proposal would reward states that
have not kept up with infrastructure. In states like Ohio, which committed more than
$1.5 billion to repair or rebuild schools, taxpayers essentially would be asked to
pay for construction twice, Voinovich said.
Ridge and Voinovich called for expanding to all 50 states a pilot program that gives
a dozen states, including Ohio, additional flexibility in spending their federal
education dollars.
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Links:
House Committee on Education and the Workforce
U.S. Department of Education
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