George Voinovich: “if there is one thing that the Senate can agree on wholeheartedly, it is that we, as a Nation, need to invest in our…”

“if there is one thing that the Senate can agree on wholeheartedly, it is that we, as a Nation, need to invest in our children's educational future. There is no other issue that hits closer to home for America's families. But, even as we recognize the importance of education, we must realize that close to home is where education works best in America, and simply spending more and more Federal dollars on more and more Federal "one size fits all" education directives will not, by itself, make our education system perform better. S. 1, the Better Education for Students and Teachers Act, that the Senate passed last Thursday contains several provisions that I favor. The bill contains a modest pilot "Straight A's" provision that will help us build on the Education Flexibility Partnership Act that I worked to help pass in the 106th Congress to allow States to consolidate Federal education programs to meet State and local needs. It also contains an amendment that I sponsored, that will provide loan forgiveness to Head Start teachers in effort to encourage teachers to go into early childhood education. Further, S. 1 expands local flexibility and control by block-granting funds, consolidating some programs, and includes another amendment that I sponsored to allow local districts to spend Title II funds, if they desire, on pupil services personnel. However, taken as a whole, S. 1 is fiscally irresponsible and violates my deeply held principles of federalism.”