---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 09:02:34 EDT From: BBracey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Congress Readies Itself for Major Education Debate. Congress Readies Itself for Major Education Debate By LIZETTE ALVAREZ ATLANTA -- Armed with dismal test scores and stories of illiterate teen- agers in crumbling schools, Senate Republicans and Democrats were conducting partisan dress rehearsals last week for the start of Monday's first in-depth debate on education in years. At every stop, Republicans, who for years ceded the education issue to Democrats, lambasted the status quo. All parents, they say, should be allowed to choose their children's schools, even if it means opting out of the public education system. Democrats, in turn, accused Republicans of turning their backs on public schools, abandoning the poor to appease the middle and upper classes. A few good rounds of verbal sparring on education, an emotional issue for parents as well as employers who complain of an increasingly ill-prepared work force, is an election-year staple, an easy way to connect with voters who rank it high on their list of priorities. But last week's speeches, and this week's debate, also underscore the divergent paths Republicans and Democrats have chosen as the nation addresses its faltering education system. Republicans, who have moved aggressively in the last year to come up with their own fix-it proposal, want alternatives to the current public school system, which they say is mired in old-school thinking. Democrats want to build on tradition by fixing crumbling school buildings and hiring thousands of new teachers. As Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., who faces a tough race this year, told an Atlanta luncheon crowd from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, "this Monday you will witness the beginning of a massive, unparalleled debate on the condition of education in America and the role of the federal government." Just two months ago, the nation received another dose of distressing news, when the Education Department released the results of an international comparison of science and math achievement. It showed American 12th graders near the bottom among 21 countries. "The policy of defending what we've got is unconscionable," said Coverdell, who drafted the principal education bill that will be debated on the Senate floor this week. "It is a policy that orders people to go to schools where six out of 10 people can't read or write. I could accept that if they were coming forward with solutions." The "they" is embodied in Democratic senators like Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, who has made defending public schools a key campaign theme in her own tight election contest. Two weeks ago, she stood next to President Clinton as he visited a decaying school building in Chicago, where he called repairing the nation's schools a national priority. Two-thirds of the nation's schools are in disrepair, government statistics show. Moseley-Braun will offer an amendment to help school districts finance nearly $22 billion in construction and repairs. "The issue is whether or not we are going to build up our public schools or whether we are going to run away from public education and leave it to people who can afford it to buy an education for their kids," Moseley-Braun said in a recent interview. "Private schools can decide who they want to take. Public schools have to take them all. One of the challenges to public education is what to do about that." For the most part, Republicans, who have realized that bashing public education does not appeal to voters, have coalesced around one proposal, which they call "choice." The pillar of their agenda is a voucher system, which would permit the use of tax dollars for private education. They also advocate sending a large share of the federal money directly to the states and local districts. But they also know that they face an uphill battle to win over the American public, which still wants to see more money spent on education. "Americans want to control education at home, but they do enjoy hearing the federal government talking about more money," Coverdell said. Most Democrats see Coverdell's bill, which is co-sponsored by a Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., as the first step down the road to vouchers because it introduces the concept of setting aside money for private school tuition. And vouchers, they say, will eventually lead to the wholesale abandonment of public schools. "It is pretty significant that right now you have the president touting a school construction plan and a 100,000 teachers proposal, but the proposal being considered on the Senate floor is a Republican proposal that promotes school choice," said Nina Shokraii, an education policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group. The bill would allow family members, charitable groups or private donors to contribute up to $2,000 a year in after-tax dollars for each student into special savings accounts that could be used for private school tuition, tutoring, transportation costs, computers or other education-related expenses. The interest on the money would accrue tax free and could be used for children from kindergarten through high school. But the savings accounts would be phased out for individuals who earn more than $95,000 a year and couples who make more than $150,000. Coverdell said the bill basically expanded on President Clinton's proposal that allows families to set aside $500 a year for college and could generate $5 billion in the first four years for primary and secondary schools. The five-year cost of the accounts in lost tax revenue is estimated at $762 million. And unlike vouchers, it uses voluntary after-tax money. The savings accounts could also be rolled over for college tuition if not spent for private elementary and secondary schools. "The crisis of quality education has no one answer," Torricelli said recently, adding that Democrats are overreacting to the bill's threat and underestimating its benefits. "Almost everyone is right in the things they are proposing to deal with the crisis. If everyone insists on their proposal to the exclusion of all others, very little will be accomplished." But Democrats note that a recent assessment of the bill by Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation found that because most parents of public school students would not make large contributions to the accounts, the tax benefits for the average child in public school would be minimal, $7 in five years. Ninety-five percent of the nation's children attend public schools. Poorer families, Democrats say, do not have $2,000 a year to save, which leads them to believe that the bill is geared toward more affluent families who want to offset the cost of private school tuition. For this reason, Clinton has said he will veto the bill if it is passed. The House passed a similar measure last year. The bill also includes a provision to make prepaid college tuition plans completely tax deductible and to extend a tax deduction to companies for employee education. Eager to showcase their own ideas, Democrats will offer 12 amendments, mostly focusing on hiring teachers, fixing public schools and directing more money to programs for disabled children. "I am tired of this 'public education has failed' argument," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who has a daughter in public school. "I think Republicans know that the public wants our public education system to work, and they want us to step up to the plate." Education experts say the debate will set the tone for a broader national discussion on education but will accomplish little else. State governments, not Washington, control the nuts and bolts of education. "There is an almost kabuki theater quality to it," said Denis Doyle, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. "There is not an awful lot they can do at the national level but talk, and of course they enjoy doing that." 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