The final version (conference report) of H.R. 1 would overhaul education proposals to increase school accountability and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) for six years. This bill would require states to test students in reading and math in grades three through eight annually, provide new accountability measures for schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress, and give schools greater flexibility to spend federal funds. It would include about $26.3 billion for federal elementary and secondary education programs and $13.5 billion for Title I programs for disadvantaged children in fiscal 2002. According to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas): “H.R. I will lead to de facto, if not de jure, national testing…. Under the United States Constitution, the federal government has no authority to hold states ‘accountable’ for their education performance. In the free society envisioned by the founders, schools are held accountable to parents, not federal bureaucrats….”
The Senate adopted the conference report on December 18, 2001 by a vote of 87 to 10 (Roll Call 371). We have assigned pluses to the nays.
