Fending off conservatives and liberals, the House voted Tuesday to support annual testing of schoolchildren in 3rd through 8th grades, the cornerstone of President Bush’s education proposal.
An amendment to strike the testing requirement from a broader education bill, which also increases spending on education, was defeated 255-173. The testing provision requires states to develop and administer tests to better gauge how well students are reading and doing math.
A coalition of liberals and conservatives joined forces to oppose the testing provision for different reasons. Liberals say the testing would set up low-income children for failure, while conservatives say the measure gives the federal government too much power.
“The role of the federal government should be to audit the results, not to mandate,” said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) who offered the amendment to strike the provision. “Our local school districts have had enough of unfunded mandates.”
But Bush and his chief advisers lobbied House members intensely this week to support the testing provision, calling it the heart and soul of the bill.
There were 119 Democrats, 52 Republicans and 2 independents voting to delete the testing measure from the bill; 89 Democrats and 166 Republicans voted to retain it.
The testing rule would significantly change the federal government’s role in public education, which focuses mainly on low-income children.
Children in failing schools that receive federal money would be able to switch to other public schools right away.
After three years of failure, schools would be required to use part of their federal money to offer children private tutoring or an after-school remedial program. If schools continue to fail the following year, despite additional federal resources, they would be required to refashion themselves as charter schools or bring in new teachers and principals, among other options.
The Senate is still considering its version of the legislation, which includes a similar testing provision but calls for greater spending increases than the House bill does.
The House calls for $24 billion in spending for next year through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a 29 percent increase.
