Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1513 - Improving America's Schools Act of 1994

(Senate)
(Kennedy (D) MA and three others)

The Administration supports Senate passage of S. 1513. The bill would: (1) reauthorize and restructure the Department of Education's elementary and secondary education programs to make them better vehicles for helping all children achieve high standards; (2) move in the direction of targeting more Federal resources on the poorest schools and communities; (3) support education reforms under way in the States; (4) support sustained, intensive professional development for teachers, administrators, and other school staff; (5) assist efforts to make our schools safe and drug-free; and (6) provide increased State and local administrative flexibility, in return for greater accountability for successful education results.

S. 1513 is generally consistent with Administration objectives and, in many respects, would substantially improve current law. There are some provisions, however, that the Administration does not support. The Administration will work with Congress to strengthen the bill further in conference. Among other improvements, the Administration will work to:

• Delete the many new and unneeded programs in the bill and the extension of certain existing programs, such as the Chapter 2 program of block grants to school districts, which the Administration proposed for termination. With respect to the new programs, the Administration is particularly concerned about the unconstitutional composition of the membership of certain councils and committees established by these programs.
  
  
• Achieve better targeting of Title I funds on the poorest States, communities, and schools, while directing services to children with the greatest academic needs in those schools.
  
  
• Convert the Emergency Immigrant Education program from a formula-based to a competitive grant program, so that school districts with the greatest concentrations of immigrant students will have sufficient resources to provide effective services.
  
  
• Increase from 10 percent to 33 percent the limit on the use of grants for security measures under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act so that local education agencies would have more funds to meet critical security needs.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

S. 1513 would affect receipts and direct spending; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. OMB's preliminary estimate is that the pay-as-you-go effect of the bill is zero. Final scoring of this legislation may differ from this estimate.