From the National Governors' Association, December, 2000.
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The committee vote was a setback for conservatives who have been fighting for vouchers for years, but a victory for Democrats and moderate Republicans who argued that vouchers would siphon off funding from cash-strapped public schools. The move also brought the House and the Senate closer to a bipartisan agreement on Bush's top legislative priority. In lieu of private school vouchers, the House and Senate bills would allow students in failing schools to use federal funding to pay for private tutoring or transfer to another public school. But major policy differences remained between the House and Senate over what supporters called the most sweeping blueprint for classroom reform in 35 years. Under the House bill, local school districts would be allowed to spend up to half of their federal education dollars on a range of programs without state or federal approval.