From the National Governors' Association, December, 2000.
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While they embraced the reforms, Democrats rebelled over funding, asserting that the White House was shortchanging disadvantaged schools in order to finance a massive tax cut, increases in defense spending and other Republican priorities. The votes came as the House Education Committee was preparing to pass a similar package of classroom reforms, after affirming its support for annual student testing in reading and mathematics, the cornerstone of Bush's education plan. 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 their federal education dollars on a range of programs without state or federal approval.