NewsMine — cabal-elite — w-administration — big-government — no-child-left-behind — Viewing Item

No child left funded Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V2798.AP-States-Shortcha.html http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V2798.AP-States-Shortcha.html Unfunded Programs Cost States $29 Billion By ROBERT TANNER AP National Writer It's an old gripe, but one with an increasingly large price tag: States say they're now paying at least $29 billion for programs that Washington launched but did not fully fund--including education, prescription drugs, homeland security and more. Similar complaints a decade ago spurred a federal law reining in the practice. But loopholes mean the buck is being passed more and more, state leaders said Wednesday as they called on the Bush administration and Congress to use the federal budget to set things right. ``It feels like the late 1980s and '90s all over again,'' said Utah House Speaker Marty Stephens, a Republican and president of the National Conference of State Legislatures. ``States' own budget programs and priorities are being supplanted by federal spending priorities.'' But watchdogs in Congress and others have questioned whether states overhype allegations of so-called unfunded mandates, noting that many programs are voluntary. A report released Wednesday from the NCSL, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, said the $29.7-billion estimate was conservative, and the total could be as much as three times higher. It accounted for 6 percent of states' total general fund spending. Costs include: --$10 billion for special education programs. --$9.6 billion for No Child Left Behind. --$6 billion for prescription drugs for Medicare-eligible patients. --$1 billion for environmental regulations. The costs are expected to rise to $34.2 billion next year, the report found. ``States can ill afford to shoulder this burden,'' Stephens said. ``During a time of fiscal crisis, it's unbearable.'' A 1995 federal law sought to put an end to unfunded mandates. Its success has been eroded in recent years, the report found, through loopholes that include exemptions to the law, conditions placed on federal grants to states, and the failure of Congress to fully fund the laws its passes. Not everyone agrees that the problem is as widespread as states claim. The Congressional Budget Office, charged by Congress under the same 1995 Unfunded Mandate Reform Act to assess the impact of federal policy on the states, reported in July that only two laws passed in the last seven years imposed costs of more than $50 million on states. They were a 1996 increase in the minimum wage and a 1997 decrease in spending on food stamps. The report specifically found that Bush's No Child Left Behind law and an older special education law are voluntary programs, and aren't technically mandates. A budget expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation said that states have grown addicted to federal money and simply want more of it. ``If states are getting a raw deal, they can leave (such programs),'' said Brian Riedl. ``There's a difference between an unfunded mandate and a program that the states just want more federal money for ... Washington can't be blamed for that.'' While the CBO found virtually no evidence of unfunded mandates, its latest report echoed, in part, some of the states' complaints of loopholes in the federal law, and found that more than 600 federal proposals between 1996 and 2002 would impose additional costs on state and local governments while not falling under the definition of a ``mandate.'' NCSL officials said that homeland security programs and Bush's education law may be voluntary, but the reality is that states can't simply walk away from them. Stephens said in Utah, the state used to receive $75 million in education money for disadvantaged children. Now that money has been rolled into $100 million for Bush's new education law, adding all the requirements for testing and more. ``It's kind of a shell game, in a way, when they say we have a right whether to participate,'' he said. ``If we don't, we lose money.'' He and other leaders said they hoped to work with Congress to add funding to cover state costs, and also to tighten the 1995 law to better protect against shifting costs to states. ___ On the Net: National Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org AP-NY-03-10-04 1814EST Copyright 2004, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

After teachers more expensive suits like nclb All child recruited { November 12 2002 } Bush leaves children behind Bush warns against watering down nclb { March 3 2007 } Charter schools lag behind in test scores { August 17 2004 } Companies help no child left behind Connecticut challenges no child left behind Connecticut sues federal government over nclb { August 23 2005 } Dc school vouchers win final aproval { January 23 2004 } Districts and teachers union sue over bush law { April 21 2005 } Education law haunts state where law began { April 9 2005 } Federal law requires commercial provider Growing concern that schools leave arts behind { July 12 2004 } Helpding or hindering the real deal on nclb { March 9 2004 } Highschool students taking more advanced coursework Hillary says teach to the nclb tests { July 2 2007 } Idahoans balk at no child left behind { March 8 2004 } Kids 6 years old tested and tested and tested in school Languages social studies left behind Leave no child make em vanish Military recruiters schools { November 21 2002 } Nclb law comes under fire in arizona Nclb requires private companies { May 30 2003 } Nclb to turn public education to private industry Neil bush banks on education { March 12 2004 } Neil bush profits from no child left behind No child goals out of reach { September 16 2003 } No child law is unconstitutional says panel { February 24 2005 } No child left behind acid tests No child left behind act draws fire from states No child left behind ignores lowest performers { March 4 2007 } No child left behind law comes under fire in arizona No child left behind leaving states cold No child left funded Oklahoma resolution overhaul no child left behind { March 9 2004 } Spellings promised flexibility to committed states State educators decry rules for no child left behind { January 27 2005 } States left with 29b bill for unfunded programs States rebelling against no child left behind { February 17 2004 } Virginia schools spend 61m extra for bush law { September 22 2005 } Virginia snubs no child left behind { January 20 2005 } Files Listed: 41

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.