Education Bill: Conference & Compromise

Join the Discussion "[A]ny tool used to measure growth must remain a tool to measure the process, not become the process itself. Texas education under GW Bush has suffered through making accountability and testing THE process rather than the tool by which to measure growth." KAANB Click to Read/Reply "The U.S. looks fine internationally with regard to performance in the lower grades; but it falls behind in middle school and high school." JHSWAN Click to Read/Reply     Related Resources • Senate Passes Education Bill • Bush Education Plan • Summary of Bush Education Bill • Last Year's Education Debate • White House Team Coverage    From Other Guides • Mark Twain on Public Education • Politics of Education • 100 Days of Flip-Flop • Dem Propaganda Fails     Elsewhere on the Web • Dept. of Education • No Child Left Behind • Lazy Days Before Summer (Wash. Post) • Kennedy, Bush Team Up for Schools (USA Today)

Similarities
Performance testing remains a key part of both bills. All schools receiving federal funds will be required to administer annual proficiency tests in reading and math for all students in grades three through eight and once for high school students. Schools with low scores could qualify for increased funding. In failing schools showing little or no improvement, low-income students could receive federal funds to pay for transportation to alternative public schools and/or for special tutoring.

Schools will be required to develop reports showing how the school's student testing scores compared to those of other schools locally and statewide.

Increased federal support is provided to charter schools. Charter schools are usually organized by a group of teachers, parents and community leaders or a community-based organization and sponsored by an existing local public school board or county board of education. Specific goals and operating procedures for the charter school are detailed in an agreement -- "charter" -- between the sponsoring board and the organizers. A charter school is generally exempt from most laws governing school districts, except where specifically noted in the law. 

To improve reading skills, about $1 billion per year for the next five years is set aside for programs to insure that every student can read by the time they complete third grade.

Funds are provided for programs to improve the training of future math and science teachers.

Differences
The Senate bill includes a provision freeing 25 school districts in seven states from restrictions on the use of federal education funds in the event those schools achieve higher test scores. In the House version, all all school districts would be entitled to unrestricted used of one-half of their federal funds, while an additional 100 districts could sign agreements relieving them of government restrictions in return for higher test scores.

The House bill requires parental consent before a school places a student in any class not taught primarily in English. It also requires schools to certify that all students, in any grade, are proficient in English after three years of attending school in the United States. The Senate version contains neither requirement.

Both House and Senate bills provide for the suspension of federal funds from any school that discriminates against the Boy Scouts or any other group that bars homosexuals. The Senate goes further by prohibiting schools from denying access to school facilities by any youth organization, including the Boy Scouts, because of the sexual orientation or views of the group's members or leaders.

Why a Conference Committee?
The Senate and House often consider versions of major bills, like the Education Reform Bill or the Tax Cut Bill at the same time. Through the debate and amendment process, differences in the two versions almost always result. Since the president can only sign one bill into law, all differences between the House- and Senate- passed versions of bills must be resolved. This task falls to a conference committee made up of a selected group of Senators and Representatives from both political parties. The conference committee drafts and votes on a "report" or third and final version of the bill with all differences resolved. The conference report must then be debated and voted on by both the House and Senate. Only after both House and Senate have approved the conference report, can the bill be sent to the White House for the president's signature or veto. On very important bills, especially those involving major expenditures, the conference committee process can take weeks to complete.