Despite a tentative agreement on key education provisions, Sen. Edward Kennedy said the Senate and White House remain billions of dollars apart on how much money should be spent on struggling schools, teacher training and school construction. Kennedy is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The Senate is expected to take up education next week. Kennedy said he was optimistic that lawmakers and the White House could work out the funding disagreements.
Education is the president's priority.
It's our priority too, and I'm confident that we can reach agreement on the remaining issues. Kennedy said the 5.9 percent increase in Bush's proposed education budget falls far short of those in the last five years of the Clinton administration, when spending on education increased, on average, 12.8 percent. But Democrats say the amount is only a 5.9 percent increase because some money that Congress and President Clinton provided last December was actually for next year's education budget. Also, Bush has included no new money for school construction repairs. Bush on Wednesday touted a plan worked out with Congress that would aid persistently failing schools, forcing those that remain substandard after years of extra aid to give students the option of using some federal money for after-school, weekend or summer tutoring.