However, the final spending bill that was sent to the President was changed to allow funding for the President's class size reduction program or other local education needs. The President vetoed the spending bill. In the letter, Goodling strongly urged the Congressional leadership and budget negotiators to support this consolidation approach in the final spending bill. Clearly, this is one of the most controversial issues to be resolved prior to adjournment. In our view, this is a win-win situation for Republicans.
Every parent knows that a quality teacher is the key to a good education.
However, unlike the President's program, which puts quantity over quality, the TEA bill gives flexibility to schools that are unable to find qualified teachers or that do not have adequate space to reduce class size. Instead, these schools would have the ability to fund initiatives such as high quality, research based professional development, teacher mentoring or instituting reforms such as merit-based pay for teachers. Furthermore, unlike the President's program, TEA demands true accountability as demonstrated through increased student achievement. We strongly urge you and the other budget negotiators to support this consolidation approach in the final appropriations bill. The Goals 2000 State grant program has expired and our Committee does not plan to reauthorize this program.