LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
HOUSE-SENATE PANEL ON EDUCATION BILL NAMED
Dodd Student-Privacy Provision Among Issues to be Resolved
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House and Senate conferees met Thursday for the first time to begin resolving differences between the House- and Senate-passed versions of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This legislation governs the federal role in public education throughout the nation.
The key issue for Kids in the Know members is the student-privacy amendment pushed by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), which was slipped into the Senate bill without a vote or debate just hours before that chamber wrapped up work on the bill on June 14. The provision requires schools to obtain parental consent before an outside group can collect information about students for “commercial” use.
The 14-person delegation representing the House was just named Wednesday. Senate conferees, appointed last week, include the 21 members of the education committee and four additional senators. (A list of the conferees is on page 2 of this update.)
During the brief opening meeting yesterday, several lawmakers simply made statements about their top concerns and priorities. It is unclear when the committee will resume what are expected to be protracted negotiations.
Won’t be “quick or easy”
President Bush and some lawmakers are pushing for the House-Senate panel to move quickly to send bills back to both chambers for final passage so the President can sign the legislation into law before the new school year begins. But virtually no one believes this is possible.
As the CQ Daily Monitor noted, “The number of differences and the sheer size of the bill have convinced lawmakers Bush’s [July] deadline is not attainable.” And House Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) told David Broder of The Washington Post, “This will not be quick or easy.”
There are significant differences between the House and Senate bills. Besides the cost of the measures – the Senate called for spending $33 billion next year compared to the House’s $24 billion – the major differences involve mandatory testing, how much flexibility to give states, districts, and schools in how they spend federal money, and whether to consolidate or add programs
The Dodd Challenge
It is in this complex context that Senator Dodd’s privacy provision will be considered.
The senior Democrat is expected to push hard for inclusion of his measure.
Kids in the Know members and allies are educating conferees and activating local contacts to weigh in and explain how the Dodd amendment would harm local schools and scores of programs that serve them. The challenge is to make lawmakers understand the local impact of the damaging provision to strengthen opposition on the committee (especially among House members) and soften support for it.
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