A senator remembered
Sen. John H. Chafee, the Rhode Island Republican who died unexpectedly Oct. 24, was best known as a moderate who defended environmental policy and abortion rights. But education groups will also remember him as an advocate for some of their causes.
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The 77-year-old, who had been a member of the Senate for 23 years and planned to retire next year, had gone against more conservative members of his party to oppose tuition vouchers for private schools. He also backed expanding federal health care coverage for children.
Bob Chase, the president of the National Education Association, called the senator a “true friend of public education’’ in a written statement. “His staunchly principled positions to put children and education ahead of politics will be remembered forever,’' Mr. Chase said.
Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said Sen. Chafee was “a man of integrity and principle.”
In a recent interview in the centrist Republican Main Street Record magazine, Sen. Chafee named “encouraging education’’ as a goal that could unite Republicans.
Ed-Flex guidance
The Department of Education has issued a draft guidance document on implementing the revised Ed-Flex program that spells out eligibility requirements for states seeking to participate.
The department has asked the White House Office of Management and Budget for an “emergency review” of the document so that states can begin applying for Ed-Flex waivers under the revised program as quickly as possible, according to Patricia Gore, the director of the department’s Goals 2000 office. Ed-Flex allows the secretary of education to grant states with strong accountability safeguards the authority to waive certain federal education requirements.
The deadline for public comment on the draft, which was published in the Oct. 13 Federal Register, is Dec. 13. However, states can begin filing requests for Ed-Flex waivers beginning Nov. 4, Ms. Gore said. Copies of the draft guidance are free; call the department’s Goals 2000 office at (202) 401-0039.
--Joetta L. Sack & Erik W. Robelen federal@epe.org
