Bill Would Alter Hurricane Aid for Private Schools

A Senate-approved measure that includes new funding for districts educating students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would change the controversial mechanism under which private schools receive some of those funds.

The bill, which would provide $350 million to educate students who remain displaced next school year, is part of a broader, $109 billion emergency-spending bill to finance the war in Iraq and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery that passed the Senate 78-20 on May 4.

Under the pending legislation, private schools that have taken in hurricane evacuees would still be able to get federal reimbursement, but under a system different from the one prescribed in the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, signed by President Bush last December. ( "Senate Backs Additional Hurricane Aid for Schools," ...