AS IT SETS out to repair the damage wrought by its predecessor, the new Republican majority in Congress needs to look hard at education. Among the least-noticed events of October’s closing legislative rush was final passage of HR-6, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), a $65-billion measure that is bad for children, for education, and for American federalism. In 1,000-plus pages it sets back the cause of serious school reform, wastes billions of dollars, and erodes local control of American schools.
At a showy pre-election bill signing in Massachusetts, President Clinton and Senator Edward Kennedy said the law signals a national commitment to our children. Retiring Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D., Me.) cited education as one of the jewels in the crown of the 103rd Congress. Education Secretary Dick Riley said no one in Washington, perhaps in the whole country, was serious about education before Clinton’s inauguration. And columnist Jack Anderson reported that Morgan Stanley’s research department finds Clinton’s “political stock . . . blue-chip when it comes to keeping its promises on education reform.”
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