Committee Priorities for Fiscal Year 2001 Spending The Committee will work to ensure adequate FY 2001 funding for programs that reach and are supported by local communities. The top priority continues to be adequate funding to relieve the mandates on local schools under IDEA. If we continue to make substantial investments in the IDEA Part B program, local communities will have more local funds that may be used for other important educational activities as determined by the local community. For example, communities could use funds to hire regular classroom teachers or additional special education teachers to reduce class size. Increasing IDEA Part B funding by $1 billion, as proposed in the past by Republicans would put us at almost 15% [14.9%] of the average per pupil expenditure, and would be a significant step in meeting the federal commitment to children with disabilities and their families. The Committee will continue to support funding for programs that direct funds to local communities, are flexible for meeting local needs, and have been proven effective. Programs such as the Title VI block grant, Even Start and Vocational Education are a few that should be given high priority during the funding process. Unfortunately, the President has chosen to eliminate the Title VI block grant and cut Vocational Education by $200 million at a time when many other education programs are receiving substantial increases. The Committee also supports a substantial increase in the maximum Pell grant award. The President's proposal to increase the maximum award by $200 is a good start, but we should do more to provide assistance to students from low-income families. This is particularly true when the President is proposing a $30 billion education tax cut for middle and upper income families. The Republican-led congress has repealed the Goals 2000 program effective October 1, 2000 and the Committee recommends that those funds be directed to programs such as IDEA, Even Start, Teacher Quality, and Pell Grants which have a proven record of helping children learn. The Committee also recommends that the Fund for the Improvement of Education be reduced by $200 million. Funding for this program has been greatly increased in recent years with little focus on the actual purpose of the program. These funds would be better spent on Even Start, a priority education program that has a proven track record of serving students and families. The Committee will continue to monitor the financial management of the Department of Education. The Department's current accounting system does not meet generally accepted standards. For example, the accounting system cannot produce automated consolidated financial statements. Consequently, the Department of Education was the last of two-dozen federal agencies to release its FY 1998 agency-wide audit report. The report was issued eight months after the March 1999 deadline. Despite this additional time, the Department of Education was one of six government agencies for which auditors could not express an opinion with respect to financial statements. The Committee will be monitoring the progress of the FY 1999 audit that is due on March 1, 2000 and expects to hold an oversight hearing with respect to the audit in the near future. The oversight efforts of the Committee will also be focused on the new Performance-Based Organization (PBO) at Education. The PBO was created in the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 an it is charged with overhauling the student aid delivery process to increase its effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Committee on Education and the Workforce During the year, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will also continue its ongoing oversight of the financial management of the Corporation for National Service. This has been an ongoing oversight project resulting from the Corporation's submission of financial statements that are not fully auditable. In addition, the Subcommittee will continue with the successful Crossroads Project, looking at what is working and what is not working at the local level. As in the past, the Committee expects that appropriate amounts will be allocated within the Department of Labor to encourage voluntary compliance and educational assistance to help employers and unions better understand their responsibilities under the laws with which they must comply. Finally, the Committee will continue to examine agency documents required by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) to determine program effectiveness and will continue oversight efforts to identify programs in need of reform. We have been concerned that many agencies have made slow progress in fully complying with the requirements of the Results Act. Although improvements have been made, we do not believe that agency plans have reached the high quality levels mandated under the law. We will continue to demand that agencies show the American taxpayers the results they are getting for their tax dollars in a clear, accurate, and timely fashion. Committee on Education and the Workforce Introduction MINORITY VIEWS AND ESTIMATES ON THE BUDGET EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE FISCAL YEAR 2001 EDUCATION President Clinton's FY 2001 budget continues our historic investment in improving access to high quality education opportunities. From fiscal years 1996 to 2000, discretionary appropriations for education increased from $23 billion to $35.6 billion, an increase of over $12 billion. The Administration continues this unprecedented investment in education by requesting an additional $4.5 billion, a 12.6% increase over 2000. We support this critical request, and challenge the Republican majority to pass the Democratic education agenda. New investments in education have been crucial to community efforts to improve their public schools, and to provide greater access to college. Federal assistance has helped many school districts boost student achievement, recruit and train highly qualified teachers, reduce class sizes, better serve disadvantaged and disabled students, and ensure that classrooms have the most effective, new educational technology. We continue to face pressing educational needs such as growing student enrollments, the need for additional teachers to replace those who will retire, the rising costs of a postsecondary education, addressing overcrowded and crumbling schools, and meeting new, challenging academic standards. We believe President Clinton's FY 2001 education proposals will help communities provide every child access to high quality, safe, and well-maintained public schools, and ensure that every American has the opportunity to participate in meaningful life-long learning and training activities. The Majority criticizes the President for not requesting a larger funding increase for Pell grants and IDEA. We find this criticism surprising, given that last year's Republican budget plan proposed the largest education cuts in history--an 18% across the board cut that included slashing Pell grants by $1.3 billion, Title I by $1.5 billion, adult and vocational education by almost $300 million, and Safe and Drug Free Schools by over $100 billion. And of course, the Majority spent the summer recess promoting its shameful $792 billion tax giveaway to the wealthy, while proposing deep cuts in education and health programs. Through President Clinton's leadership, the maximum Pell grant awards have received historic increases. Since 1994, the maximum Pell grant award increased from $2,300 to $3,300. The proposed $3,500 maximum, the highest ever, would serve almost 4 million students. New and expanded higher education and job training programs President Clinton took office. The President's budget also proposes $30 billion in new tax credits and deductions over ten year to provide additional help to middle income families attempting to pay for college. Since 1996, funding for IDEA has increased a whopping 150%, from $2.0 to $5.0 billion. President Clinton's FY 2001 budget not only supports this substantial increase in funding, but proposes to increase it by $290 million. By contrast, the Majority wants to fund IDEA increases by raiding funds from other valuable programs, such as the Clinton/Clay Class Size Reduction Act. We should not pit education programs against each other; instead we should increase our overall education investment by the $4.5 billion requested by the President. We support additional funding for IDEA, but not at the expense of other valuable education programs. Funding and Legislation H.R. 2 Includes Key Democratic Education Reforms. During House consideration of H.R. 2,"The Student Results Act," Democrats won a number of key victories to help improve public schools, including a requirement to target funds to the poorest communities, an increase for Title I funding by $1.5 billion dollars, the creation of new school report cards to help parents hold schools accountable, and stronger requirements for states to maintain strong educational standards and assessments. The bill also continues bilingual education, magnet schools, and comprehensive school reform programs. During consideration of the bill in the House, Democrats overwhelmingly defeated Republican amendments designed to dismantle Title I programs by turning the program's public school grants into private school vouchers. Democrats also passed, over the Republican leadership's objection, a comprehensive amendment to improve education for girls through reducing gender bias in technology, dropout prevention, and valuable gender equity training for teachers. We urge the Majority to promptly complete work on the remaining parts of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in a bipartisan manner. Class Size Reduction. We support President Clinton's plan to increase funding for the Clinton/Clay class size reduction initiative plan, and urge the Majority to drop its opposition to this critical education partnership with local communities. The President's budget proposes $1.75 billion, a $450 million increase for the program's third year. The 2001 request will bring the total number of teachers hired under the initiative to 49,000, or nearly halfway toward the goal of hiring 100,000 teachers over seven years to reduce class sizes in the early grades to 18 students per class. Recruiting and Training Quality Teachers. Democratic initiatives contained in H.R. 2, contain new requirements to ensure that teachers are fully certified and qualified to teach. Better-prepared teachers are essential to enhancing student achievement. These provisions supplement Democratic proposals included in the Higher Education Act of 1998, which authorized funds for loan forgiveness for teachers, gave support for stronger teacher education programs through college/public school partnerships, and provided new resources for recruiting and retaining teachers. We support the President's $1 billion initiative to improve teacher quality, which will give grants to states and districts to fund high quality, standards-based professional development for teachers. We also support the following new, teacher quality initiatives: ⚫Higher Pay for Teachers. A $50 million initiative that will award grants to highpoverty school districts to help them attract and retain highly qualified teachers through better pay and higher standards. •Teacher Quality Rewards. A $50 million program that will reward school districts that have made exceptional progress in reducing the number of uncertified teachers, and teachers teaching outside their subject area. ⚫Hometown Teacher Recruitment. A $75 million program that will help school districts develop programs to recruit local teachers to address the shortage of qualified teachers. •Transition to Teaching. A $25 million initiative that builds on the success of the Department of Defense's Troops to Teachers program by recruiting and preparing talented mid-career professionals. Crumbling and Overcrowded Schools. We urge the Majority to take action on Democratic proposals to address crumbling and overcrowded public schools. One-third of all public schools--or 25,000 schools--need extensive repair or replacement, according to the GAO. Today, the average public school is 42 years old, and will face rapid deterioration without repair and renovation. With record growth in the children who are enrolled in elementary and secondary schools today, an estimated 2,400 new public schools will be needed by 2003. The Majority's failure to take action on this critical priority is a willful abandonment of America's school children. We support the President's School Modernization proposal that provides $24.8 billion in tax credit bonds over two years to modernize up to 6,000 public schools, which has been sponsored by Representative Rangel. We also urge action on the President's new $1.3 billion proposal for urgent/emergency renovation loan and grant proposal that will be sponsored by Representative Clay. The program would support up to $7 billion for renovation projects in high-need school districts that have little or no capacity to fund urgent repairs over the next five years. Accountability for Results. H.R. 2, which reauthorizes Title 1 and related programs, contains strong accountability provisions authored by Democrats. It requires Report Cards by states, school districts, and schools to help parents hold schools accountable. It requires all teachers to become fully qualified. It continues key 1994 Democratic reforms requiring all States to have rigorous State standards and assessments in place by the next school year. It prohibits the use of Title I funds for private vouchers, A |