Senate stops new federal dropout prevention program

Human Events, Mar 26, 1999

On March 11, by a vote of 55 to 44 the Senate approved Sen. Jim Jeffords (R.-Vt.) motion to table (kill) an amendment to the Education Flexibility bill (S 280) sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D.-N.M.) that would have spent $150 million to create a high school dropout-prevention program.

Supporters said the federal government needed to make a commitment to help local school districts tackle the serious problem of students dropping out of high school before they graduate. "There is no federal program that is funded that is intended to solve this problem," said Bingaman. He said that this is a major issue in all states, and particularly those with a high Hispanic population, in which the dropout rate is between 30% and 50%.

"We have 1 million people in prison, and 820,000 of those people in prison, men and women, have not graduated from high school," said Sen. Harry Reid (D.-Nev.). "If there was no better reason to do something about the dropout problem, that would be it:"

Liberal Republican Jeffords opposed the Bingaman amendment, but his lack of support appeared to be more a question of timing, rather than philosophical opposition to federal government meddling in local issues. A similar program, although obviously not working well, already existed, said Jeffords, and this was not the time to take up the Bingamen proposal. "I am not doing anything other than saying wait-wait until we go through the reauthorization for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," said Jeffords. "We are going to hold hearings and make sure we do the best thing possible to solve the dropout problem."

Bingaman's amendment would have also created a national clearinghouse of prevention programs.

A "yes" vote is a vote in favor of tabling (killing) the Bingaman amendment that would spent $150 million to create a federal dropoutprevention program and is, in effect, a vote against the amendment. A "no" vote is, in effect, a vote for the amendment.

FOR THE MOTION TO TABLE: 55

REPUBLICANS FOR (55): Abraham, Allard, Ashcroft, Bennett, Bond, Brownback, Bunning, Burns, Campbell, Chafee, Cochran, Collins, Coverdell, Craig, Crapo, DeWine, Domenici, Enzi, Fitzgerald, Frist, Gorton, Gramm, Grams, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Hatch, Helms, Hutchinson (Ark.), Hutchison (Tex., Inhofe, Jeffords, Kyl, Lott, Lugar, Mack, McCain, McConnell, Murkowski, Nickles, Roberts, Roth, Santorum, Sessions, Shelby, Smith (Ore.), Smith (N.H.), Snowe, Specter, Stevens, Thomas, Thompson, Thurmond, Voinovich and Warner.

AGAINST THE MOTION TO TABLE: 44

DEMOCRATS AGAINST (44): Akaka, Baucus,

Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Breaux, Bryan, Byrd, Cleland, Conrad. Daschle, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Edwards, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham, Harkin, Hollings, Inouye, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerrey (Neb.), Kerry (Mass.), Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Mikulski, Moynihan, Reed (R.I.), Reid (Nev.), Robb, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Torricelli, Wellstone and Wyden.