N.H. Critics Target Federal Voc.-Ed. Funds

By Peter West

Conservative groups in New Hampshire are lobbying state officials to return $13 million in federal funds the state received under an effort to help ease students into the workplace.

The school-to-work program is a federal erosion of state autonomy, the groups contend, and represents an attempt by the federal government to impose controls on the local job market.

Officials in several of the 18 other states that receive grants under the School-to-Work Opportunities ACT of 1994 have heard similar complaints and predict that the program may become a national issue for conservative critics...