[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 4 (Monday, February 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S275-S276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DOLLARS TO THE CLASSROOM ACT

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my good 
friend from Arkansas, Senator Tim Hutchinson, in introducing the 
``Dollars to the Classroom Act''. This is a critically important piece 
of education legislation, of which I am honored to be an original 
cosponsor.
  The ``Dollars to the Classroom Act'' will send funds supporting 
roughly thirty one K-12 education programs in a block grant to states, 
with the requirement that 95 percent of these funds go to local 
schools. This is a very simple concept. We should demand that 95 
percent of the Federal money we spend on elementary and secondary 
education must be spent in the classrooms of our local schools. That's 
it.
  Let me be clear about one thing. This legislation does not reduce the 
funding for the schools. Rather, it makes sure that the tax monies our 
citizens give for education actually makes it to the classroom.
  Mr. President, I served as a public school teacher. My wife served as 
a public school teacher. And let me say this, there is nothing more 
special, than the moment when a young student and a teacher connect in 
the classroom. Unfortunately, there exists a complex, confusing, 
paperwork driven federal system that too often hinders rather than 
helps the students. Mr. President, this bill provides the badly needed 
resources to not only enhance these magic moments between students and 
teachers but it also guarantees that every single student and every 
single teacher will have the resources needed to make this all 
possible.
  Mr. President, this is how the bill works. Instead of sending the 
education dollars through the usual bureaucratic gauntlet--paying the 
bureaucrats at the Department of Education and the state education 
establishments--individual tax dollars would go directly to the states 
in a block grant administered by the Governor. Local school districts, 
parents, teachers, and local school officials could then use those 
funds for education priorities they think are most important. Mr. 
President, this will allow parents and local education officials to 
decide how to spend these dollars. They would decide their schools' 
priorities and, most importantly, how best to allocate these funds.
  There is another important reason for this legislation. Federal 
education programs and their grant processes have become so burdensome 
many local schools are not even applying for funds. Often our local 
schools and school officials are forced to spend a significant amount 
of their Federal education tax dollars just to apply for these funds.
  Let me give you an example. The Mobile County Public Schools system, 
my home county in Alabama, which contains 65,443 students in grades K-
12 was forced, on two different occasions, to hire grant writers at 
$50,000 a year just to help the school system apply for these federal 
grants. These grant writers were in addition to the many 
administrators, principals and teachers who are forced to dedicate 
their valuable time to filling out the paperwork associated with 
applying for these grants instead of educating the students of Mobile 
County.
  And there are countless other examples. The state of Ohio calculated 
in 1990 that over 50 percent of its paperwork burden was related to 
federal education programs, even though only 5 percent of its education 
revenues came from federal sources.
  A recent audit of the New York City public schools found that only 
43% of their local education budget reaches the classrooms.
  A 1996 Heritage Foundation study of federal spending on elementary 
and secondary education found that only 85

[[Page S276]]

cents of every education tax dollar sent to Washington, was returned to 
local school districts--that's school districts not local classrooms.
  According to the U.S. Department of Education, of the more than $15 
billion allocated to its elementary and secondary education programs in 
1996, over $3 billion went for purposes--like administrative overhead--
rather than the real needs of local school districts.
  The Superintendent of the Mobile County Public School system, Mr. 
Paul Sousa, supports this legislation for one simple reason: this 
legislation dedicates valuable dollars to the classrooms and eliminates 
the bureaucracy that has placed a stranglehold on his principals, his 
teachers, and his students. And I would say to all my colleagues, the 
``Dollars to the Classroom Act'' will help to eliminate these scenarios 
and require that 95% of all Federal education dollars be spent in the 
classroom.
  Mr. President, I would like to end my comments by sharing with you a 
quote from President Clinton, concerning this very issue. On March 27, 
1996, in a speech to the National Governors' Association, the President 
stated: ``We cannot ask the American people to spend more on education 
until we do a better job with the money we've got now.'' Mr. President, 
I fully agree. We can not continue to spend billions of dollars on 
federal education programs that don't even reach our students. We must 
demand accountability for the federal dollars we spend on education. We 
need to know where our education dollars are going and how much 
actually gets to the individual classrooms in Alabama and across this 
country.
  The ``Dollars to the Classroom Act'' will provide the hardworking 
parents and students of this country the resources and the 
accountability they deserve.

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