Labor-HHS Appropriations: National Testing, Eisenhower Issues Resolved

One of the main roadblocks keeping Members of Congress from heading home for the rest of the year has been a disagreement over national educational testing provisions in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill for FY 1998 (H.R. 2264.) Inability to resolve a conflict with the Administration on this bill and several others (including Commerce-Justice-State and the District of Columbia), has forced Congress to pass its fifth short-term “continuing resolution” since the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1, in order to keep the programs funded by these bills operating.

The logjam on the education bill was finally broken on November 7, when the Administration and conferees agreed to a compromise on President Clinton’s plan for national testing of fourth-graders in reading and eighth-graders in math. The final bill was passed later that day by the House on a 352-65 vote. The Senate passed it, by 91-4, in a rare Saturday session the following day. Although reports indicate that Congress hopes to adjourn for the year by the end of this week, conflicts continue on at least one of the remaining appropriations bills.

The controversy over testing revolved around the Administration’s plans to develop voluntary tests so schools around the country could compare the performance of their students against national expectations. Many Republicans opposed this effort as a move toward federal control of schools, and some Democrats worried that such tests might stigmatize poor and minority students. An amendment to the House bill would have disallowed any funding to be used for such an effort, but this provision drew a veto threat from Clinton.

After several false starts, language was drafted that was acceptable to both sides. The compromise would allow development of such tests to continue, but remove it from federal control and give it to the independent National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB.) The NAGB already oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a series of tests given on a variety of subjects to a sampling of students across the country (see FYI #128 .) The National Academy of Sciences would be asked to study the test development process and consider ways in which the same purpose might be served by revising currently-available tests, such as the NAEP. Delaying the Administration’s plans and ensuring that Congress will reassess the issue next year, the agreement prohibits any funding from being used to implement field trials of the tests during FY 1998.

Another issue resolved in the Labor-HHS bill was the status of Eisenhower grants for teachers’ professional development. An earlier Senate version of the bill directed that the Eisenhower program, along with a number of other targeted federal education programs, be combined into block grants for the states to use as they saw fit. This provision was removed in the final conference report, enabling the Eisenhower funds to remain targeted for teacher development. Funding for the grants was increased by $25 million over FY 1997, to $335 million, with the first $250 million specifically intended for science and math teachers.