[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E424]]
             EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MATT SALMON

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 10, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 800) to 
     provide for education flexibility partnerships:

  Mr. SALMON. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Education 
Flexibility Partnership Act (H.R. 800). This legislation, as the title 
implies, empowers states with greater flexibility in administering 
certain federal education programs. When one considers that federal 
dollars represent only about seven percent of total primary and 
secondary education funds, but 50 percent of the time districts spend 
on paperwork, common sense demands a more flexible process of 
distributing federal resources.
  Federal education programs have been more successful in creating jobs 
for bureaucrats--over 25,000 a year--than in improving the educational 
performance of America's children. The results of the Third 
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), released last 
year, emphasize this point. TIMSS revealed that U.S. 12th-graders 
scored next to last in advanced math and dead last in physics. Reading 
scores, which were not measured by the international tests, were 
equally disappointing. Forty percent of fourth graders can't even read 
at the basic level. Unfortunately, the increased federal contribution 
in education over the past 30 years has not resulted in a corresponding 
improvement in the quality of the education our children receive. 
Hopefully, passage of Ed-Flex will mark the first of many steps taken 
by the 106th Congress to reform antiquated federal education programs.
  Only 12 states currently participate in Ed-Flex. As constructed, Ed-
Flex provides greater state and local flexibility in utilizing federal 
dollars. The legislation before us provides for the expansion of this 
program to all 50 states.
  In a letter to me dated March 9th (which I will have included in the 
Congressional Record) Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa 
Graham Keegan expressed support for H.R. 800 and stated that Arizona 
will apply for Ed-Flex status. There is one potential glitch that needs 
to be resolved so that Arizona can participate. A November 1998 GAO 
report on Ed-Flex concluded that Arizona did not qualify for this 
program because the state did not have the authority to waive state 
statutes or regulations--a prerequisite to participate in the program. 
I have been assured by the Education Committee that report language to 
accompany the bill will clarify that Arizona is eligible to participate 
in Ed-Flex.
  Passage of Ed-Flex marks progress in the effort to loosen the federal 
strings that have strangled innovative and effective education 
programs. We've taken a positive step today and I look forward to 
working on additional legislation that will remove administrative 
burdens so that schools can spend more time teaching kids.

                                      Department of Education,

                                       Phoenix, AZ, March 9, 1999.
     Hon. Matt Salmon,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Salmon: Later this week, the U.S. House of 
     Representatives will begin its debate on H.R. 800, the 
     Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999. While this 
     legislation still falls short of giving State and local 
     education agencies the full flexibility they need to deliver 
     the best education to children, it is, nevertheless, a step 
     in the right direction. For this reason, the Arizona 
     Department of Education (ADE) urges you and your colleagues 
     to support this legislation.
       Given the opportunity afforded by this legislation, Arizona 
     will apply for Ed-Flex status. According to the General 
     Accounting Office's November 1998 report on Ed-Flex, Arizona 
     did not qualify for the Ed-Flex program because the State did 
     not have the authority to waive State statutes or 
     regulations. While the Arizona State Board of Education has 
     never asserted its right to waive State statute, Arizona 
     Administrative Code R7-2-801 clearly gives the Board the 
     authority to issue waivers from administrative rules. I have 
     enclosed a copy of this rule for your reference.
       We are uncertain if whether upon review of Arizona's 
     administrative structure it was determined that the State 
     Board of Education's authority to waive regulations did not 
     sufficiently meet the Ed-Flex Act requirement that the 
     ``State'' have such waiver authority. As our State Board has 
     the authority to act as the ``State'' when it comes to 
     accepting federal dollars, we feel its ability to waive state 
     regulations should also clearly mean that the ``State'' has 
     such an authority when it comes to meeting the requirements 
     of Ed-Flex. We therefore support including report language to 
     clarify that, in states where a State Education Agency is 
     defined as the State Board of Education, the authority of the 
     State Board to waive regulations should be considered 
     adequate authority to qualify for Ed-Flex.
       While ADE will, as mentioned above, apply for Ed-Flex 
     status, I must bring to your attention one provision of this 
     legislation that is still of serious concern to Arizona
       Under Section 4(c)(1)(E) of H.R. 800, States are prohibited 
     from waiving any statutory or regulatory requirements 
     relating to the distribution of funds to States or to local 
     education agencies. There are a number of reasons this 
     explicit prohibition will directly obstruct our efforts to 
     improve the quality of education in Arizona.
       As you know, Arizona is home to more charter schools than 
     any other state in the nation, with 311 schools serving more 
     than 30,000 students across our State. New charter schools 
     are being created and chartered regularly, and it is our 
     policy to provide to the charter school the federal funding 
     that its attending students generate as soon as the charter 
     school comes into existence. This is what we call ``real 
     time'' funding. We do not wait for the charter school to 
     report is student data to us at the end of the year, and then 
     fund the school based on prior year data. However, in order 
     to ensure that we will have funding on hand to provide to 
     these charter schools that crop up, it is ADE's policy to 
     reserve a portion of its Title I funding at the State level 
     to be used specifically for this purpose.
       The federal government recently changed the way it 
     allocates Title I funding, so that these dollars now flow 
     directly to the existing LEAs. In most circumstances, I 
     strongly support efforts that leave the SEA out of the 
     equation and provide as much funding as possible to the local 
     level. However, this allocation method does not take into 
     account any charter schools that might come into existence at 
     a later date. That means that these new charter schools, and 
     the children attending them, are left holding the bag without 
     any funding--and that, I can tell you, I do not support.
       For this reason, ADE would like the flexibility to continue 
     with its unique policy of reserving funds at the State level 
     for the sole purpose of funding newly-created charter 
     schools. However, even Ed-Flex, with its explicit prohibition 
     on waiving requirements related to the distribution of funds, 
     will not allow us to do this. The current proposal will not 
     allow us to fund charter schools in a way that is consistent 
     with our state policy and which aligns itself with our 
     philosophy of sending funding directly to the school where 
     that student is being taught as quickly as possible.
       I find it ironic, and a bit discouraging, to know that even 
     as the President and the Administration are encouraging the 
     creation of 3,000 charter schools by the year 2000, they are, 
     at the same time, impeding the efforts of states to fund 
     them. Nonetheless, even with the prohibitive language 
     included in this bill, we plan to include a request to waive 
     some restrictions on the allocation of federal funds in our 
     Ed-Flex proposal. As I understand it, flexibility and 
     accountability are at the heart of Ed-Flex. It is our 
     intention, then, to allocate dollars in a manner consistent 
     with Arizona's philosophy of funding students while at the 
     same time remaining fully accountable for these funds. I know 
     we can count on your support for these efforts, and I hope we 
     can count on the Congress' support as well.
       The Arizona Department of Education prides itself in 
     helping educators across our State concentrate on the task of 
     teaching students, not conforming with burdensome regulations 
     and reporting requirements. For this reason, we are 
     supportive of any efforts by the Congress to give schools and 
     State and local education agencies the flexibility they need 
     to do their jobs well. H.R. 800 is a good start, and deserves 
     the support of Congress.
       I urge swift passage of this legislation.
           Sincerely,
                                               Lisa Graham Keegan,
                             Superintendent of Public Instruction.

     

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