Bush, Democrats Compromise As ESEA Bills Take Shape

By Erik W. Robelen

Washington

The education debate echoed across both sides of the Capitol last week, as momentum continued in the House and the Senate to deliver a major education bill to President Bush's desk this year—probably as soon as this summer—following compromises that appear to locate the bill in politically viable middle territory.

The House education committee on May 9 overwhelmingly approved its version of the legislation, embracing much, but not all, of Mr. Bush's agenda for schools. Meanwhile, the Senate ended its second week of debate with a similar bill that still retains the essence of an earlier compromise worked out between Republicans and Democrats. Senators had voted on more than a dozen amendments as of late last week, and many more are expected as the debate resumes this week.

But many Democrats spent the week publicly fuming over separate budget legislation that, at least for now, appears to put the Congress in the position of making education promises the Treasury won't be able to keep. Republicans, in an answer that Democrats found only mildly comforting, said that, in the end, the...