Jon Kyl: “The first has to do with the percentage of funds the Federal Government spends on primary and secondary education. The…”

“The first has to do with the percentage of funds the Federal Government spends on primary and secondary education. The second is more general. The Senator from Wyoming made the point that about 7 percent of the money spent in local schools comes from the Federal Government. It is also true that the average proportion of paperwork imposed on State and local schools by Federal mandates is about 50 percent. In my State of Arizona, it is about 45 percent. Why is that and what is the effect of that? That goes to the heart of what we are proposing to change. We understand it is not a good economic bargain to give the States $7 for education and to make them spend $3.50 of that on administration. Yet that is exactly what is happening. Why is this so? States and school districts see pots of Federal money. There are over 100 different Federal programs for which States and local school districts can qualify. Sometimes they have to have matching funds. In most cases, they have to submit a lot of paperwork in order to get this money from the Federal Government.”