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Kennedy Backs Hurricane Aid for Private Schools

Washington

The debate in Congress over the Bush administration’s idea of providing private school vouchers as part of its hurricane-relief efforts is heading in a new direction.

A key lawmaker who had blasted the idea of using federal vouchers to cover the costs of tuition for evacuees in secular and religious private schools has softened his stance, saying he would be amenable to providing that type of emergency aid in a different way.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said he would propose that private schools receive aid on the same basis as public schools through existing programs instead of through...