House GOP Tosses ESEA-Reauthorization Bill Into Ring

By Erik W. Robelen

Washington

Republicans on the House education committee last week introduced their version of legislation to enact President Bush's precollegiate agenda. Their bill embraces Mr. Bush's plans for more testing and more flexibility, and for providing educational vouchers to students in persistently failing schools.

At the same time, in a few areas, the bill diverges from the president's approach, such as his proposal that states use the National Assessment of Educational Progress as a check on state testing programs. The bill would allow the use of other nationally recognized tests as well.

The proposed legislation comes as committee Republicans continue to negotiate with their Democratic counterparts in an effort to find common ground in reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the flagship federal law in K-12 education. With a narrow Republican margin in the House and an evenly divided Senate, any final bill will require bipartisan support, analysts here say. The ESEA reauthorization is overdue, after Congress failed to complete work...