Point of View - Education Our education system is designed to keep the federal role fairly limited, with only seven percent of funding for elementary and secondary education coming from the federal government. Local communities and states need to keep control over schools, and with it the responsibility for funding those schools.
Local control is the strength of our current system.
I'm committed to freeing our educators from federal red tape. Ed-Flex was passed into law and is now a reality. Although this initiative to make education more affordable for families was thwarted twice by the veto pen of President Clinton, I will continue to support these efforts during the 107th Congress. Working with President Bush to increase federal education spending while at the same time increasing accountability and flexibility for the states is one of our highest priorities. Our budget proposals for Fiscal Year 2002 include historic increases, coupled with important policy reform.