Senate Ends Delay, Readies Vote on School Funding

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to move forward with its work on a major education bill as negotiators neared a deal to boost federal aid to schools serving impoverished children while demanding better academic results.

The 96-3 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin debate as early as today on a bill to reauthorize federal programs and funding for elementary and secondary schools.

That procedural step alone, following weeks of delay, represented a modest victory for the White House. Next to his proposed tax cut, President Bush has made education his top domestic priority.

The education debate is expected to last into next week as senators clash over issues such as federal funding to hire teachers (a Democratic priority) or give parents vouchers for private schooling (a key Republican goal).

But developments Tuesday signaled that a far more conciliatory atmosphere surrounds the bill than other major legislation--such as the tax cut--sought by the Bush administration.

“A lot of good work has been done” on the education measure, said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.). “It’s been bipartisan.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the key Democratic negotiator on education issues, told reporters the two parties were on the verge of final agreement on a series of steps to reform various federal education programs. Kennedy and administration officials also reported progress on a related issue: funding increases.

A Senate aide familiar with the talks said Democrats had lowered their demand for new funding for elementary and secondary education programs to a figure only $800 million higher than what the White House has offered.

Asked if negotiators were less than a billion dollars apart, Kennedy said the difference was “in that general range.” That would be a significant narrowing of the difference from last week.

Given this progress, the talks seemed to be centered on an increase ranging from $4 billion to nearly $5 billion in elementary and secondary education programs; such funding now totals $18 billion.

Aside from the funding issue, key policy provisions in the bill were expected to largely mirror those Bush has proposed. They include:

* Testing of all students in grades three through eight to measure achievement in reading and math.

* Consolidation of programs to allow states and school districts more choice in how they spend federal dollars.

* Remedies for students attending low-performing schools that fail to show improvements.

These could include allowing these students greater freedom to transfer to other public schools and providing their parents money to help pay for private after-school tutoring.

“We’ve been working around the clock with Democrats and Republicans in the Senate,” said one senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We’ve made tremendous progress. We have worked ourselves pretty fundamentally to an agreement.”

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), though, said talks were still “hung up” on crucial language concerning school accountability.

The three lawmakers who voted against moving ahead with debate on the bill argued that the Senate should wait for the closed-door talks to end.

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) called the parliamentary action “reckless.” Also voting against the motion were Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.).