AASL-->good news!!

[Mike Eisenberg <mike@eryx.syr.edu>]

I'm forwarding this important announcement from AASL::>>>

  This Fact Sheet just came from the Washington Office of ALA.  As you can
see ESEA has passed in the Senate and now goes to a conference committee.
This sheet gives a clear explanation of what happened with the two
versions of the bill and what we hope will happen.

-- Pam Kramer, AASL


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON ESEA REAUTHORIZATION AND SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA
RESOURCES

Reauthorization
  What happened in the Senate?  S 1513, which passed the Senate on August
2nd, includes a set-aside for school library resources in Title III, Part
E. Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Resources Program.  From
Part A, Educational Technology for ALL Students, 10 to 20 percent of
amounts appointed would be set-aside for school library media resources.
The authorization level for Title III, Part A is about $337 million.
Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun's (D-IL) school and school library facilities
bill was added to the bill in committee.  The bill also specifies
technology training for school library media specialists.

  What happened in the House?  The House passed H.R. 6, which includes
Title II, Part C, Library Media Program, and authorizes dedicated funds
for school library resources.  The authorization level for Part C is $200
million.  The bill does not specify technology training for school
library media professionals, but lists other school personnel.

  The authorization process establishes the legislation as law, and sets
a dollar amount as a goal for funding level.  The rule is that nothing is
funded unless first authorized.

  What happens next?  A conference will be held between the House and
Senate over the differences in the two bills.  Once agreement is reached,
the conference version of the bill is sent back to both House and Senate
for final action.  If approved, the bill is sent to the President for
signature.


Actual Funding:
  In a year when major education legislation has been or will be passed
-- Goals 2000, School to Work, Headstart reauthorization, ESEA
reauthorization, School Nutrition -- there is very little money to fill
the authorized levels for ESEA reauthorization.  Why is that so?  It is a
combination of past deficits, past budget restrictions, and current
congressional commitment to deficit reductions by limiting spending .
Additional factors are a general will on the part of the Administration
to down-size government, an economy that is not growing by leaps and
bounds, and an election year.

  On June 29, the House passed the Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education Appropriations bill (H.R. 4606).  The House Appropriations
subcommittee chose to fund parts of H.R. 6, Chapter I, Bilingual
Education, and a combination of Eisenhower and Chapter 2, as well as $20
million for technology.  The did not fund the school library resources
provision in H.R. 6.

  In the Senate, the appropriations subcommittee and full committee
approved the labor the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
bill on July 20.  The committee funded a combination of Eisenhower and
Chapter 2, and included $50 million for technology.  Sen. Thad Cochran
(R-MS) amended the bill in subcommittee to add $20 million which brought
the total to $50 million for educational technology, or Title III, Part A
of S. 1513.  Sen. Moseley-Braun's school facilities was funded at $150
million.

  Which bill?  The House Appropriations bill did not fund the school
library resources title, instead funding Chapter 2.  In the Senate bill,
the school library resources piece is a set-aside from the technology
title, and if that title prevails in conference, it could be funded in
FY 1995.  Both House and Senate appropriations bills include funding for
the technology title.

Action Needed:
  House and Senate ESEA reauthorization bills (H.R. 6 and S. 1513) are
both called the Improving America's Schools Act.  Conferees are expected
to be members of the House Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational
Education Subcommittee and the Senate Education, Arts, and Humanities
Subcommittee.  School library media supporters should contact conference
committee members stressing the importance of school library resources
and asking them to include the provisions of the Senate bill, S. 1513;
Title III, Part A, Education Technology for All Students; and Part E, the
Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Resources Program.

  NOTE: Since Part E is 10 to 20 percent of appropriations for Part A, it
is necessary that both parts of the legislation be included.