Statement of Administration Policy: S. 695 - Educational Excellence Act of 1989

(Senate)
(Kassebaum (R) KS and 37 others)

S. 695, although flawed, represents progress toward enactment of many of the important initiatives that President Bush proposed last year (S. 695, as introduced) to help improve the quality of the Nation's educational performance. The bill would be improved materially by the changes recommended in a letter from Secretary of Education Cavazos on October 18, 1989, to the Labor and Human Resources Committee. The Administration urges enactment of those changes. Most importantly:

• The bill should authorize the programs it contains to begin in FY 1990. Congress has already appropriated $100 million for Merit Schools and $50 million for Magnet Schools for EY 1990, contingent upon authorization by March 1, 1990. In its present form, however, the bill does not authorize the proppsed currently-needed programs to begin until fiscal year 1991. Also, the bill should be changed to make all the authorities free-standing. At present, authorizations for the two largest programs (Merit Schools and Magnet Schools of Excellence) are made contingent upon appropriations at higher than specified levels for other programs.
• The bill should authorize the Administration's requested "Presidential Awards for Excellence in Education" (Title I, Part D, of S. 695, as introduced). Recognizing the central role of the teacher in the educational achievement of our children, and providing substantial awards for excellent teachers, are essential ingredients of true education reform.
• Title I, Part A, of the bill (Presidential Merit Schools) should be amended so that selection as a Presidential Merit School is not limited to Chapter 1 schools. Under Merit Schools as proposed by the President, only improving schools would be rewarded. Successful schools in high-income areas would not benefit. In addition, States should not be required to divide the number of awards evenly between elementary and secondary schools.
• Title II of the bill (National Science Scholars) should be amended to eliminate the constitutionally dubious gender-based selection process and to increase the size of the scholarship award from $5,000 to $10,000 per year.
• The Administration urges that Titles VII and VIII of S. 695, amending the student aid title of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), be deleted. These provisions have nothing to do with the substance of the Educational Excellence Act. They raise a host of issues that can only be considered properly in the context of the next reauthorization of the HEA. Additionally, two of these provisions would force unwarranted increases in the cost of student aid programs that would likely have to be offset by reduced awards to the needy. The first of these reduces the amount that dependent students must contribute to pay for their own education; the second liberalizes still further the eligibility of independent students.
• The Administration remains strongly opposed to the provision of the bill that directs the Secretary to provide noncompetitive Federal funding of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The Board's functions are properly voluntary and non-Federal in nature and do not require Federal funding to be successful. The Administration understands that Senator Kassebaum intends to offer a substitute which would authorize an open competition for awards for research and development on voluntary assessment and certification procedures for teachers. This substitute would not establish a national curriculum, and would not interfere with the development of alternative certification by the States. Given only a choice between these two alternatives, the Administration would prefer the Kassebaum amendment.