Jeff Bingaman: “I believe that letter summarizes very well the thrust of my argument. We have the Federal Government now spending over…”

“I believe that letter summarizes very well the thrust of my argument. We have the Federal Government now spending over $8 billion this next year--almost $9 billion--to assist disadvantaged students through the title I program. But the accompanying accountability provisions in the law have not been fully implemented. That is, we have not seen the results we would like to see in all cases--in the case of these failing schools in particular--due to a lack of dedicated funding that would be necessary to develop improved strategies and create rewards and penalties that hold schools accountable for continuous improvement in their student performance. The bill before us does not identify any specific funds for accountability enforcement efforts. We need to ensure that a significant funding stream is provided so that these accountability provisions are in fact enforced. The amendment I have offered seeks to ensure that $250 million, which is a small fraction of the total amount appropriated under title I, is directly spent on this objective.”