James M. Jeffords: “Madam President, I rise to express my concern about a change in the provisions for State governance which was made in…”

“Madam President, I rise to express my concern about a change in the provisions for State governance which was made in the substitute amendment to the committee bill. Specifically, the committee provided that the Governor of each State would apply for these grants, with the provision that plans for implementing a statewide school-to-work system would have to include evidence of support of the agencies and officials responsible for the different programs affected by the plan and their agreement with the plan. That provision is dropped in the substitute we are considering here, and I am concerned about what that means for assuring the commitment of State and local education agencies and resources which must be linked with Federal funds to provide effective programs. We must be certain there are affirmative agreements from education authorities to make this program work.”