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Conferees Meet on ESEA Bill
After spending much of the spring working on legislation to reauthorize
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) - an effort that stalled
completely last year - both the House and Senate have passed versions
of the bill (H.R. 1). Members from both chambers have now been appointed
to a conference committee and are beginning the process of reconciling
the differing bill versions. President Bush is hoping that a final version
of the bill can be worked out before Members of Congress leave on August
6 for a month-long recess, and in time for the beginning of the new
school year.
However, key conferees, including Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and House Education
and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH), are not expecting
a final agreement to be reached before September. Major differences
include amount of funding recommended, methods of assessing school performance
and improvement, and how much flexibility states and local school districts
have in using the federal money.
The members of the conference committee are listed below:
| Senate Conferees |
House Conferees |
| Edward Kennedy (D-MA) |
|
John Boehner (R-OH) |
| Christopher Dodd (D-CT) |
|
Tom Petri (R-WI) |
| Tom Harkin (D-IA) |
|
Marge Roukema (R-NJ) |
| Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) |
|
Howard McKeon (R-CA) |
| James Jeffords (I-VT) |
|
Michael Castle (R-DE) |
| Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) |
|
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) |
| Paul Wellstone (D-MN) |
|
Van Hilleary (R-TN) |
| Patty Murray (D-WA) |
|
Johnny Isakson (R-GA) |
| Jack Reed (D-RI) |
|
George Miller (D-CA) |
| John Edwards (D-NC) |
|
Dale Kildee (D-MI) |
| Hillary Clinton (D-NY) |
|
Major Owens (D-NY) |
| Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) |
|
Patsy Mink (D-HI) |
| Evan Bayh (D-IN) |
|
Robert Andrews (D-NJ) |
| Judd Gregg (R-NH) |
|
Tim Roemer (D-IN) |
| Bill Frist (R-TN) |
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| Mike Enzi (R-WY) |
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| Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) |
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| John Warner (R-VA) |
|
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| Christopher Bond (R-MO) |
|
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| Pat Roberts (R-KS) |
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| Susan Collins (R-ME) |
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| Jeff Sessions (R-AL) |
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| Mike DeWine (R-OH) |
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| Wayne Allard (R-CO) |
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| John Ensign (R-NV) |
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Both versions of the bill promote math and science education by supporting
some form of Math and Science Partnerships, a new initiative that would
provide grants to partnerships including states, local school districts,
university science and math departments, and possibly other partners,
for the improvement of K-12 education in these areas. The House version
of H.R. 1 would require states to use 15-20 percent of their Teacher
Quality funding (provided to the states by formula grant) to make grants
to partnerships involving a "high-need local education agency." The
Senate version would authorize $900 million for grants to be awarded
to partnerships by the Education Department, and cites a broader array
of allowable activities than does the House bill. (See FYI #80 for more details of
the two bills.)
The American Institute of Physics and three of its Member Societies
have joined a number of other organizations in sending a letter to the
conferees, supporting the highest possible funding level and the broadest
array of partners and acceptable activities for the Math and Science
Partnerships. The next FYI will contain the text of that letter.
Now is the time to contact the conferees if you want to make your
views known. If you are seeking tips on writing to your Members of Congress,
please see "Communicating
with Congress" on our web site.
Audrey T. Leath
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
fyi@aip.org
(301) 209-3094
Back to FYI Home
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