George Voinovich: “as a newcomer to the Senate, I have been perplexed by the great debate over Ed-Flex. I would like to say that Ed-Flex is…”

“as a newcomer to the Senate, I have been perplexed by the great debate over Ed-Flex. I would like to say that Ed-Flex is not the beginning and the end in terms of education. When we first talked about Ed-Flex early on in this session, the thought was that we would move it out early before we got into the great debate over the reauthorization of elementary and secondary education and to understanding that there are a lot of things we needed to discuss --more teachers, school construction; on our side of the aisle, block granting all the money into the classroom, and many other things. It was a bipartisan effort. As chairman of the National Governors' Association a year ago, I was at the White House. I said to the President, ``We would like to see Ed-Flex for all the States.'' By the way, we don't need it in Ohio. We were one of the first States to get Ed-Flex. I thought it would be wonderful if the other States had the same opportunities we had in Ohio. The President said, ``I am for Ed-Flex.'' Tom Carper, now the chairman of the National Governors' Association, Governor Carper, was at the White House. Again, the President said, ``I am for Ed-Flex.'' This bill is just aimed at giving the other 38 States in the United States of America the opportunity to use these waivers the way we have in Ohio. We believe they have helped us do a better job with the money that has been made available under various Federal programs.…”