ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280080
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
Senate Democrats Monday proposed a $9 billion, six-year public education initiative aimed at improving children's reading skills, expanding their ``technology literacy'' and helping school systems finance repair, renovation and construction projects.
In bipartisan acknowledgment of voters' concern over the quality of public schooling, Republicans are also preparing a high-profile initiative focusing on giving parents more choice in their children's education - assuring a major debate over rival approaches to the role of the federal government in education.
As outlined by Minority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., the Senate Democratic plan has three parts:
* $5 billion to pay up to 50 percent of the interest costs on state and local bond issues for school repair, renovation, modernization and construction, with the money to be distributed on the basis of school-age population, need and other factors.
The idea is to stimulate up to $20 billion in school construction and repair.
* $2 billion in grants to help parents teach children to read and to fund a reading corps to provide one-on-one assistance to help 3 million children in preschool through third grade improve their reading abilities.
* $1.8 billion on top of $200 million already appropriated as ``leverage'' to expand state, local and private efforts to expand children's access to technological innovations.
Daschle said Democrats plan to propose elimination of corporate tax breaks and subsidies and cuts in other noneducation programs to offset the initiative's cost and avoid any increase in the deficit. But he did not offer any details.
LENGTH: Short : 42 linesby CNB