School Measures Hitch Ride on Transportation Bill

A federal highway bill may not be of obvious interest to the education community, but the behemoth measure nearing completion on Capitol Hill is certainly worth a glance, or two.

Tucked into the $300 billion transportation legislation, for example, is a plan to authorize almost $1 billion over five years to finance projects that would make walking and biking to school safer for children. Another provision would seek to prohibit school districts from using passenger vans to transport students. A third would vastly expand the budget for the federal Clean School Bus USA program.

Congress has had a tough time completing the long-overdue transportation bill. But the House and the Senate now appear on the cusp of finally sending it...