Lynn C. Woolsey: “I am amazed that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support the Dollars to the Classroom Act. And I am amazed…”

“I am amazed that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support the Dollars to the Classroom Act. And I am amazed that we hear that the majority of districts will receive more money when the Congressional Research Service has estimated that 27 out of the 50 States will receive less money in fiscal year 1999 under this legislation than they would have under the existing 31 programs that were funded in fiscal year 1998. In fact, some States will lose as much as 68 percent of their fiscal year 1998 funding. Now, of course I am delighted that California will receive more in this round of appropriations if this is passed. But we cannot count, with the priorities of this Congress on block granting, supporting increased funding when appropriations is cutting education by 20 percent in this year alone. It truly appears to me that the majority party, not the minority party--the Republicans, not the Democrats--would tell communities how they should spend their education dollars. Education in America has always been a local issue. We know that. I for one think that is the way it should be. But in the communities that I represent, Marin and Sonoma counties, the two counties just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, it is the parents, the educators and the students who join together with local elected school boards to decide how to spend their education dollars.”