Senate Republicans Tuesday unveiled a revamped version of their K-12 education agenda, adding block grants and the expansion of charter schools to a bundle of initiatives--including private school vouchers--contained in last year's education package.
Last year's bill, which also contained several tax breaks for higher education, was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. But with most of the higher education tax initiatives approved as part of the budget deal, House and Senate Republicans plan to focus this year on K-12 proposals. The new plan may now be referred either to Finance or the Labor and Human Resources Committee. But Labor and Human Resources Chairman Jeffords has declined to sign on as a cosponsor and was not at today's press conference with the rest of the leadership. Jeffords opposes the use of vouchers for private schools.
Republicans came up with a new acronym for the bill: the Better Opportunities for Our Kids and Schools Act--the BOOKS Act. "From hiring teachers to buying computers, our initiative will help local schools improve student performance and reward teachers for classroom excellence," said GOP Conference Secretary Paul Coverdell of Georgia, who also heads the conference's education task force.
At the core of the new plan is a $10 billion block grant, administered by governors, to states and local school districts for their top educational priorities--such as hiring new teachers or building new schools.
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