The ABCs of Education Spending

Senate debate is expected to begin today on a bill that would reauthorize the main federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The White House’s education proposal would do several things to help failing schools. It would establish a major reading initiative, pay for professional development of teachers, require annual testing to chart the progress of students and increase funding for Title I, the compensatory program that targets poor children.

The inevitable compromise between President Bush and Senate Democrats should lean toward a higher amount to compensate states like California that face rising education costs driven largely by immigration and the expensive challenges of teaching an increasing number of very poor children. The final funding should be aimed at spreading successful educational practices and narrowing the academic gap between white and minority children and rich and poor students.

In Texas, Connecticut and Virginia--states that focused early on improving teacher quality, higher standards and regular testing--black and Latino students are outpacing their peers elsewhere. The achievement gap could be narrowed dramatically in this decade if states learned from one another. These successes should provide lessons for Washington.

Billions of federal dollars have been wasted on Title I programs that did little to raise the achievement level of low-income students. Decades of failure have motivated Republicans and Democrats to redraw the federal role in public education. The pending legislation--with its emphasis on early reading mastery, training for teachers and mandatory testing--breaks with that past. But it does not go far enough. The current legislation would give states too much latitude to switch tests from year to year, which would eliminate a means of comparison.

Negotiators for the White House and Congress have agreed to drop an unwise proposal to use federal funds for vouchers for private schools. Their better alternative would allow students who attend failing public schools to use federal funds for private tutoring. Although Washington funds only 7% of the K-12 tab, these changes can make a difference in public schools. And these are improvements that both sides of the aisle can support.