BILL WOULD PAY SCHOOLS DIRECT

U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond wants to cut the regulatory strings on education money and let the nation's school districts decide how to spend federal dollars.

To that end, Bond has proposed a "Direct Check for Education" measure.

The legislation would:

-- Consolidate several of the Education Department's competitive grant programs.

-- Return the money by direct check to school districts based on the number of students and average daily attendance.

-- Let local school officials decide how to spend the money.

Bond touted his bill at several stops in the state Tuesday, including Cape Girardeau.

"I firmly believe that education should be a national priority," he said during a stop at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office.

About 20 chamber members and educators, including members of the chamber's education and government affairs committees, listened as Bond outlined his legislation.

Bond said the education bill will be the first measure he introduces when the Senate convenes next month.

Bond said the federal government has too many federal education programs -- 763 at last count -- and government red tape.

Federal funding accounts for little more than a nickel of every dollar in the budgets of Missouri school districts, he said.

Bond wants to increase federal funding for local schools but at the same time eliminate much of the regulatory paperwork.

He said school district administrators and teachers shouldn't have to spend countless hours filling out grant forms.

The Republican senator admitted it won't be easy to pass the measure in Congress and get the president to sign it into law.

Bond's bill would lead to the elimination of about 13,400 jobs in the Education Department.

The bureaucracy accounts for about 10 percent of the department's budget, he said.

Bond said the bureaucrats would oppose eliminating the jobs.

The Clinton administration is likely to oppose it, but Bond said the administration might change its tune if there is strong public support for the bill.

The Department of Education sends $12 billion a year to the nation's elementary and secondary schools.

But about $8 billion of that is targeted for specific needs. The other $4 billion is distributed in the form of competitive grants.

Bond said his bill would deal with the federal dollars appropriated through six education programs or about 75 percent of the competitive grant dollars that flow to the schools.

Under Bond's bill, school districts could count on receiving the federal money.

"It will treat children and schools the same by awarding funding to schools based upon the students served instead of rewarding some and penalizing others," he said.

First-year funding would total about $3 billion. Over five years, the "Direct Check" program could provide about $20 billion to schools, which could use the money to hire teachers, buy computers or pay for almost anything else that has to do with education, Bond said.

Bond's bill would provide more than $60 million a year for Missouri schools and potentially more than $325 million over the next five years.

"It comes out to about $76 per student in Missouri for the first year," he said.

School superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent estimated that would amount to about $300,000 a year for Cape Girardeau schools.

Tallent said the measure could benefit school districts that wouldn't have to spend time filling out grant requests and other bureaucratic paperwork.

Most schools don't have full-time grant writers, he said.

Jackson school superintendent Dr. Howard Jones welcomed Bond's proposal to eliminate burdensome paperwork.

"I think you are on the right track," Jones told Bond.