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NCC Washington Update January 26, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #4, January 26, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig3@juno.com> of  the National Coordinating Committee
for the Promotion of History
*****************

1.  Education Reform Is Bush Administration's First Initiative
2.  History Education Advocates Meet with Senator/Department of Education
Staff
3.  Bush Administration May not Submit Budget By Deadline
4.  Committee Approves Norton to Head Interior Department
5.  News Bits and Bytes: Clinton White House Online Documents: George Wright
Society Meeting

1.  EDUCATION REFORM IS BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S FIRST INITIATIVE
On January 23, 2001, shortly after the U.S. Senate confirmed Roderick R.
Paige (the former superintendent of schools in Houston, Texas), as Secretary
of Education, President George W. Bush announced some of his proposals for
education reform.  Democrats were quick to announce their plans as well.

President Bush's proposal calls for a significant overhaul of federal
education policy. The conceptual framework (specific legislation has yet to
be crafted let alone introduced) puts the states center-stage and seeks to
enhance their freedom over funding in exchange for rigorous standardized
annual testing of students. The Bush plan entitled, "No Child Left Behind"
would require that states test students, and, in return, schools would be
rewarded or punished based on those results.  In addition, a controversial
"voucher" program would be launched where children attending failing public
schools could enroll in better schools, using their vouchers to help defray
their individual education costs. The President's proposal also includes
increasing aid to low-performing schools, expanding reading programs, and
providing more funds for special education.

The Democrats also announced their conceptual framework for education reform
the same day. The plan, tentatively titled, "The Public Education
Reinvestment, Reinvention and Responsibility Act" (note the three "Rs") was
announced by Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CONN).  The plan calls on states
and local school districts to enter into a new compact with the federal
government to raise standards, and improve educational opportunities through
a program that streamlines 50 federal education programs into five
categorical block grants that would be channeled to the states. Lieberman's
"New Democratic Plan" would increase education spending on education by $35
billion over five years. In a nutshell, the program seeks - in Senator
Lieberman's words - to "invest in reform, and insist on results."

This week, Hill discussion focused on reform principles not programs, and at
this writing, no specific legislative proposal has emerged from either the
Bush or Democratic camps. When reading the conceptual proposals though, one
is struck with the similarities between the two plans. Both seek to close
the achievement gap, both seek to increase student achievement, both focus
on raising teacher quality, and both seek to grant broad flexibility to
local authorities. Assuming a handful of controversial issues such as
vouchers can be addressed by the Republican and Democratic leadership, the
view of many Hill insiders is that some program of educational reform is
likely to be advanced - and at a relatively rapid pace - by Congress.

At this writing, there is no specific program in either the Republican or
Democratic proposals that articulates the need for enhanced history or
social studies education reform and neither plan appears to earmark funds
for history or social studies education -- at least not to the extent that
both the Bush and Lieberman plans focus on "fostering English proficiency"
(the Democratic plan seeks to increase overall aid to the teaching of
English by more than 250% to $1 billion). However, the Bush plan does
mandate "that states set challenging content standards in history and
science."

2.  HISTORY EDUCATION ADVOCATES MEET WITH SENATOR/DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
STAFF
On January 26, representatives of the historical and humanities community
met with staff of Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) and officials of the
Department of Education to discuss implementation of the $50 million history
education earmark which Senator Byrd authored and may be found in the
FY-2001 Department of Education appropriation (See NCC Washington Update,
Vol 6, # 45, December 21, 2000 on NCC's H-net website address below).
Attending the meeting facilitated by the NCC were: Bruce Craig (Director,
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History), Cathy Gorn
(Executive Director, National History Day), John Hammer (National Humanities
Alliance), Kenneth T. Jackson (President, Organization of American
Historians), Arnita Jones (Executive Director of the American Historical
Association), and Gail Leftwich (President, Federation of State Humanities
Councils).

What was gleaned from the two meetings was that grant funds would be
channeled from the Department of Education to "local educational agencies"
(LEAs) through a competitive grant program.  A "Request for Proposals" from
LEAs and/or their partners will likely be announced in April or early May.
Grant requests must benefit history education at the elementary and
secondary school levels. To this end, LEAs will be encouraged to "partner"
with university departments of history, national historical organizations,
museums, historical societies, and other educational institutions and
organizations in an effort to advance a wide variety of history enhancement
programs including teacher education and professional development. Grant
applications will be assessed through a peer review process.  While a
decision relating to the maximum size of the grant has yet to be decided, in
all likelihood, projects will be permitted to be implemented over a
three-year span.  As soon as the Department of Education has a web page up
and running regarding this grant program additional information will be
available.

3.  BUSH ADMINISTRATION MAY NOT SUBMIT BUDGET BY DEADLINE
In less than nine months, fiscal year 2002 will begin. President George W.
Bush, however, likely will follow the lead of his predecessor, President
Bill Clinton, during his first year in office and will miss the February 5
deadline for submitting the new Administration's first formal federal agency
budget to Congress. Instead, Bush is anticipated to provide an "economic
blueprint" sometime later in the month. Individual agencies, are gearing up
and preparing outlines of their fiscal needs so that when the Administration
issues its budget call, agencies will be ready to articulate their needs.

4.  COMMITTEE APPROVES NORTON  TO HEAD INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
Fending off a negative-advertising campaign and objections from various
environmental groups, Gale A. Norton won Senate Resource Committee approval
for her nomination to head the Department of the Interior.  The 18-2 vote
(Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Charles E. Schumer (D-NY voted against
her confirmation)) by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee paves the
way for Norton's confirmation by the full Senate.  A vote is tentatively
scheduled for Tuesday, January 30.  If confirmed, Norton will have overall
responsibility for the stewardship of a vast amount of America's public
lands including 80 million acres of national park lands, 92 million acres
comprising the National Wildlife Refuge System and hundreds of national
monuments and historic sites.

5.  NEWS BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1 - Clinton White House Documents: A substantial number of documents
that comprised the Clinton Administration's White House website (including
some 20,200 White House documents relating to the Clinton Administration -
speeches, press releases, briefing statements and photos) have been
transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration and are
posted for public viewing. To visit the website, tap into:
http://www.clinton.nara.gov

Item #2 - Meeting Date Set: The George Wright Society Biennial Conference on
Research and Resource Management in Parks and Public Lands will convene in
Denver, Colorado, April 16-20, 2001. This year the conference will focus on
effective land management in the context of advancing community outreach and
engaging the public beyond traditional boundaries. David Lowenthal, eminent
geographer, biographer, and expert on the perception and meaning of history,
will keynote the conference's opening session. For more information tap
into:  http://www.georgewright.org

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