[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 120 (Thursday, September 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9195-S9196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION SPENDING BILL FOR FY98

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, the fiscal year 1998 Labor-HHS-Education 
appropriations bill that was passed overwhelmingly by the Senate today 
contains several education and health provisions that I feel are 
especially important and have worked hard on to help improve the lives 
of people in New Mexico and nationwide.
  The key health and education provisions include a plan to move 
control over the proposed new math and reading tests to an independent 
board, increased funding for education technology and technology 
training for teachers, first-time funding to help low-income students 
participate in the rigorous and cost saving academic program known as 
Advanced Placement, and funding for a Boarder Health Commission that I 
helped enact in 1994.
  It is especially important to note that the United States Senate 
today approved $1 million in funding to implement the United States-
Mexico Border Health Commission. The Commission, which has long been 
one of my priorities, is designed to help improve public health along 
the United States-Mexico border. I requested that the funds be included 
in the 1998 spending bill in a letter to Senate appropriators earlier 
in the year.
  I led the fight to fund the Commission because I believe that we 
can't wait any longer to begin addressing the serious health problems 
along the border. They greatly affect people in nearby communities and 
in New Mexico. What's alarming is that many of these health problems--
such as malaria and tuberculosis--can affect people nationwide. This 
appropriation represents the first time Federal funds have been 
earmarked specifically for implementation of the commission.
  The funds would go to the commission to begin a comprehensive border 
health needs assessment followed by a coordinated medical response to 
border health problems. Each United States-border State would receive 
two federally appointed commissioners who would work with Mexico to 
design and coordinate programs to improve health, water resources, 
sewage treatment, vector control and air quality along the border. 
Because of the Senate's move today, we are inching closer to being able 
to directing medical help to our ailing border region.
  The Senate has also now approved funding for several key education 
initiatives that have been some of my top priorities in this Congress.
  Perhaps most notable is that the Senate approved $30 million to train 
teachers in the use of technology in the classroom. The funding will be 
used to implement the Technology for Teachers Act, new legislation that 
I authored earlier this year.
  There is a tremendous effort underway to put computers in classrooms 
and hook schools across American into the Internet. But until now, the 
primary focus has been on obtaining equipment--not on training teachers 
to use it. We can't simply install a computer in the classroom and 
expect it to revolutionize education all by itself. These new resources 
represent the first time Federal funds have been set aside specifically 
for training new and current teachers in the use of education 
technology.
  As a founding member of the Senate Education Technology Workforce, I 
am also proud that the Senate voted to double the funding for the 
Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, created by my 1994 Technology for 
Education Act. The fund would jump to $425 million in 1998 from $200 
million in 1997. New Mexico's State Department of Education this year 
received $1.7 million from the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, and 
awarded grants to 26 communities across the State. The 1998 funding 
would boost New Mexico's share to $3.55 million.
  And finally, the Senate also approved $3 million in funding to 
increase the number of low-income students who participate in the 
rigorous Advanced Placement [AP] program in schools in New Mexico and 
across the country. I secured this funding in the 1998 Labor-HHS 
appropriations bill in order to broaden the reach of AP classes to all 
students--not just to those who attend more affluent schools or have 
definite plans to attend college. By promoting AP, we're promoting 
high-standards education in our schools without creating new Federal 
programs.
  These are just a few of the most important elements of a bill that on 
the whole is very strong, I believe. However, I must note one part of 
the legislation that we are sending into conference with the House of 
Representatives, which is the Gorton amendment.
  As part of this spending bill, the Senate narrowly approved--49 to 
51--an amendment by Senator Gorton that would convert billions of 
dollars in critical Federal education dollars into unrestricted block 
grants that school districts could spend with few restrictions and 
little accountability. For reasons I would like to describe here, I 
strongly oppose the amendment and will push for its elimination from 
the final version of the 1998 Labor-HHS appropriations measure.
  In essence, this amendment would eliminate much of the U.S. 
Department of Education--a radical and misguided effort that I had 
thought was abandoned in the face of tremendous public opposition over 
the last few years.
  Specifically, this amendment block grants to local districts--not 
states--roughly $5.5 billion in annual funding for Federal education 
programs. The eliminated programs would include:
  Funding for the new voluntary national tests for reading and math, 
which would help so many parents keep their schools accountable for 
preparing their students for a high-tech world;
  Title 1, the roughly $7 billion program to help poor children improve 
their reading and math skills in the early grades;
  The $425 million Technology for Education Act, which is already 
providing $1.7 million in education technology funding to 26 grantees 
around the state, and would rise to $3.5 million next year;
  The $50 million Charter Schools program, which helps foster the 
creation of more new, independent public schools like the five that are 
up and running in New Mexico;
  Goals 2000, which has provided millions of dollars to New Mexico as 
part of its effort to raise academic standards and achievement;
  The School-to-Work Opportunities Act, which has given both local and 
statewide implementation grants to help improve training for students 
going straight into the workforce from high school;
  Safe and Drug Free Schools, a program that sends Federal funds to the 
States and schools most affected by school violence in order to make 
them more orderly;
  Teacher training funds called the Eisenhower program that are used in 
New Mexico to help upgrade the preparation of teachers in our 
classrooms; and
  Bilingual and immigrant education programs, which also provide much-
needed support for communities with large numbers of limited English 
proficient students.
  In effect, this would create an unmonitored windfall for school 
districts that could be used for nearly any purpose--conceivably even 
raising administrative salaries, or building swimming pools and tennis 
courts. There would be no oversight or accountability--in fact, all of 
the limits on administrative costs and accountability measures that 
rely on State oversight and are already in Federal law would be 
eliminated by the amendment.

[[Page S9196]]

  The Gorton amendment would also fully by-pass State education 
agencies that in New Mexico help coordinate and monitor programs. Some 
people think block-granting education funds might give local school 
districts more control or more funding. The reality is that if we block 
grant these programs and bypass the our entire State education network, 
we actually put a huge administrative burden on school districts that 
very few will be able to handle. And in fact, only about 6 percent of 
Federal funding is taken off the top by States for administrative and 
technical assistance. It simply isn't cost-efficient for small 
districts to provide the specialized training or diverse course 
offerings that can be provided economically at a state and regional 
level.
  It's also entirely unclear how New Mexico would fare under such an 
arrangement--there is no real way of telling from the amendment, which 
proposes an entirely untried approach that has never really been 
debated before. Funding levels would basically be determined by having 
each individual district conduct a self-reported census on its own of 
all the school-aged children in the district, and then weighting each 
district's funding according to each State's average per capita income 
level. However it's not too hard to guess that we won't do nearly as 
well as some may think, since current formulas already awarding money 
directly to districts based on individual community need would be 
scrapped--and many communities would be left to fend for themselves.
  For these reasons, it is my hope that this ill-conceived amendment 
will be dropped in conference, and left out of the final bill that is 
made into law. If necessary, I would likely join my colleague Senator 
Dodd in filibustering the fiscal year 1998 appropriations bill if the 
Gorton amendment is kept in the final version.

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