Jesse Helms to the Rescue

[eisely]

I too am uncomfortable with the federal government using funding as both a carrot and a stick to push other levels of government in different directions. Educational policy is not the only place where this happens. I suppose it depends on whether or not you agree with the particular policy objective. Certainly liberals cannot consistently complain about this use of federal power based on the notion that federal power simply should not be used this way. Too bad. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

[eisely]

This may not have been as resounding a victory as seemed upon first impression. The follow up news stories were also somewhat confusing. Apparently, after the Helms amendment initially passed, Barbara Boxer (Democrat - California needless to say) immediately got another amendment introduced and passed weakening the enforcement mechanism of the Helms amendment. So there were two votes on this issue in the Senate, not one. The difference between the Senate and House versions will now go to a conference committee. Who knows if this element of the legislation will survive at all?

[eisely]

Apparently, as of Halloween 2001, the Helms amendment is still alive and well according to the article below. The amendment about the boy scouts has survived the House Senate conference. School prayer and access to schools for military recruiters have become larger more controversial issues. One suspects that the attacks on 9/11 have much to do with this change in attitude.

 

____________

 

Congress cuts deal on school prayer

 

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

 

 

House and Senate negotiators trying to get a compromise education bill to President Bush this year approved a provision that would take federal funds from school districts that unlawfully restrict student prayer.

 

If passed as part of the overall bill, it would mark the first time that Congress has tied federal funds to compliance with Education Department prayer guidelines.

 

The House-Senate conference committee, which is reconciling differences between bills passed by the two chambers, also approved a measure requiring schools to give the same access to the Boy Scouts as to other groups, and another measure requiring that schools give military recruiters the same access as college and business recruiters.

 

Lawmakers last month approved letting churches and other religious groups compete for federal after-school programs. On Tuesday, they approved an agreement allowing religious organizations to teach safety and drug-abuse prevention programs.

 

Negotiators said they hoped to send the huge education bill to Bush by the end of the year - possibly by next month - before Congress begins its year-end break.

 

"My sense is that we're going to be here until Thanksgiving," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

 

The First Amendment allows informal prayer by students "when not engaged in school activities or instruction." Students have the right to pray individually or in groups, read the Bible or other scriptures, say grace before meals or pray before tests. School districts can impose rules on the prayers, but can't prohibit, discourage or encourage them.

 

According to the Education Department guidelines, students may also speak to others about religious topics and distribute religious literature, but schools may stop students who are using religion to harass others or who are compelling students to listen as a captive audience.

 

Religious groups must be allowed the same access to schools as other groups.

 

Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture, the history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible as literature and the role of religion in the history of the United States, for example.

 

Schools also may teach students about religious influences on art, music and literature, and they may teach about religious holidays, but may not observe them.

 

On Monday, the Supreme Court turned away a challenge to Virginia's mandatory minute of silence in schools, meaning it remains in force for Virginia's 1 million public school students.

 

The justices prohibited organized prayer during class hours in the 1960s, and classroom display of the Ten Commandments in 1980. In the past decade the court has banned clergy-led prayer at high school graduation ceremonies and student-led prayer at football games.

 

Among the issues that remain in the bill are how much money schools will get from the federal government and how lawmakers will define "failing schools," which would be given more money in exchange for a promise of better student performance. The final bill still must be approved by both the House and Senate.

 

 

[eisely]

As of December 12, this provision has survived the House-Senate conference committee and is int the bill being reported out to both houses for final approval. Looks like it might make it into law, per the following Associated Press summary:

 

_________________________

 

Education Bill at a Glance

By The Associated Press,

 

Details of education bill approved by House-Senate conference committee:

 

-Authorizes $26.5 billion in 2002 for K-12 education - about $8 billion more than this year. The total is $4 billion more than President Bush (news - web sites) requested but nearly $6 billion less than Senate Democrats wanted.

 

-Requires annual state tests in reading and math for every child in grades three through eight beginning in 2004-05 school year. Schools whose scores fail to improve two years in a row could receive more federal aid. If scores still fail to improve, low-income students can receive funding for tutoring or transportation to another public school. A school in which scores don't improve over six years could be restaffed. In schools already considered poor performers, parents could receive tutoring or transportation funds as early as this fall.

 

-Requires schools to raise all students to reading and math proficiency in the next 12 years. Schools must also close gaps in scores between wealthy and poor students and white and minority students.

 

-Allows churches or other religious groups to provide tutoring and after-school programs.

 

-Requires states to ensure within four years that all teachers are qualified to teach in their subject area. States could require teachers to pass subject tests or major in their field in college.

 

-Allows school districts to spend federal teacher-quality funds on training, hiring or higher salaries for teachers.

 

-Provides aid to build new charter schools and help existing ones.

 

-Requires schools to develop periodic ``report cards'' showing a school's standardized test scores compared to others locally and statewide.

 

-Provides nearly $1 billion per year for the next five years to improve reading - three times as much as this year - with a goal of making sure every student can read by third grade.

 

-Allows 50 states to use a small portion of their federal funds as they wish. A pilot program further frees seven states and 150 school districts from most restrictions on spending.

 

-Targets Title I funds, slated for low-income students, to the poorest students.

 

-Requires schools to test students with limited English skills to ensure they are proficient in English after three consecutive years of attending school in the United States.

 

-Strips federal funding from any school district that discriminates against the Boy Scouts or similar groups that bar homosexuals.

 

-Provides money to help schools form partnerships with colleges and universities to improve science and math instruction.

 

 

[eisely]

This bill was signed into law by President Bush today, January 8. Helms' provision is now the law of the land.

[Dedicated Dad]

Helms' provision is now the law of the land. Three cheers for that! GWB was very complimentary of OLE Teddy Kennedy for his role in passing the bill. Go figure? I wonder what concessions were made?

 

 

[eisely]

The biggest concession was scrapping any federal initiative promoting the use of vouchers. I don't know the details of what Bush had originally proposed, but they gave it up in order to get a bill passed.

[Mike Long]

Maybe someone can expound on this but...

 

I had heard that the bill was eviscerated by removing any ability to actually ENFORCE the BSA provision.

 

Paper tiger.

 

Was that effort stopped before the bill was made law or did they hand us another whitewash?

[eisely]

The original Helms proposal was modified by amendment, and I think I read that those amendments weakened the provision. However, beyond that I can't say what happened.

 

The more important legal foundation for fighting such attempts by local school districts in particular to exclude scout units from facilities is the precedent established in Broward County in 2001. This precedent could be invoked right now. We will have to wait for the US Department of Education to promulgate regulations implementing the Helms provision, and that may never happen. It certainly won't happen soon.

 

This is not to say that the Helms provision is useless. It does provide additional leverage in these kinds of disputes.

[Mike Long]

I had heard that a while back. Just wondering if we got want we were expecting.

[eisely]

In response to the previous query, the information below is copied from the website of "planetout." While you may find the source objectionable, this is the most complete statement of the final bill that I have found.

________________________-

 

Bush signs education bill

 

By Ann Rostow, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

 

SUMMARY: President Bush (news - web sites) signed a landmark education bill into law yesterday, getting mixed reviews from GLBT activists.

 

President Bush signed a landmark education bill into law yesterday, putting the executive stamp on a series of over 300 amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, hashed out over the last two years.

 

The Act is revised by Congress every five years, although that interval has just been changed to once every six years.

 

Leaders of the gay community were pleased to have mitigated some of the damage that lurked in the House version of the bill. During negotiations between the House and Senate, the conference committee took the teeth out of two amendments, and most importantly for the GLBT community, retained funding for a series of programs that help schools learn ways to fight hate violence on campus. Those programs, begun in 1994, were cut by the House, but restored in the final bill.

 

One problematic amendment in the House version would have required students to get parental consent before making use of any school health service, including counseling and advice or treatment about sex. And written consent would have been required before students would be allowed to fill out surveys on risky behaviors -- surveys which the GLBT-advocacy group Human Rights Campaign points out are essential to planning programs that address the needs of gay youth. In the revised version, although parents may bar their children from access to health services without their permission, parental consent is not mandatory.

 

The most controversial amendment to the bill as far as the GLBT community was concerned, was, in fact, something of a red herring. A version of an amendment originally proposed by North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, R-N. C., would have withdrawn federal funds from any public school that discriminated against the Boy Scouts in response to the Scouts' anti-gay policies.

 

From the start, Helms' amendment was gratuitous -- schools are already barred from this type of viewpoint discrimination by virtue of the federal Equal Access Act. But because the amendment singled out "sexual orientation," and because it added the additional punishment of losing federal funds to the existing punishment of a federal lawsuit, HRC and others advocated strongly for its demise.

 

The final version of the amendment deleted the specific reference to "sexual orientation," and essentially reminded schools that they may not discriminate based on viewpoint against the Scouts or other legitimate groups that seek access to their facilities after hours. But schools nonetheless remain free to withhold sponsorship or special deals to the Scouts or any other groups. Gay rights leaders fear that this distinction may be lost on some school officials who might find the amendment confusing.

 

 

[Dedicated Dad]

essentially reminded schools that they may not discriminate based on viewpoint I love how right and wrong is reduced to a point of view. The practice of perversion is intrinsically wrong and no amount of verbal aerobics can change this truth.

[OldGreyEagle]

I guess that depends on how you define perversion and what is truth...

 

Oops, I think this falls into the category of been there, done that and didnt get anywhere

[Dedicated Dad]

I guess that depends on how you define perversion and what is truth... Verbal Aerobics: Lesson #1.

If you dont like a definition, change it.

Lesson #2.

Make fact subjective. Whoops, now its coming back to me, we have been there done that. Note to self, stop banging head on wall.