Senators Eyeing Extensive Changes To K-12 Schools Bill

By Erik W. Robelen

Republicans and Democrats alike on the Senate education committee are expected to seek substantial changes to the reauthorization bill for key K-12 programs their chairman has crafted when they take it up this week.

For one, the bill provides more flexibility for states and school districts in how they spend federal dollars for precollegiate education—but that flexibility does not go far enough for many Republicans, and it goes too far for many Democrats.

"That should make the perfect compromise," said Joe Karpinski, a spokesman for Sen. James M. Jeffords of Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education,...