LEGISLATIVE CENTERS
Legislative Research Center
American Virtues Come to the Fore
Arizona Initiatives
Border & Immigration
Budget & Taxes
Crime & Justice
Education
Environment
Foreign Policy
Health Care
Native Americans
National Security
Social Security
Transportation
Veterans

Terrorism, Technology & Homeland Security Subcommittee


      Home || Search This Site || Message to Senator Kyl || En Español   
 Home > Legislative Centers > Education


Education

Senator Kyl with a middle school math teacherI have always believed that how we educate children in Arizona should be decided in Arizona. Traditionally, the primary responsibility for education has been vested in state and local governments, with the federal government playing an important but supplementary role. Increasingly, however, education has come to be seen as a national problem. The President and Congress have responded to public sentiment by increasing spending on education markedly while putting into place a new framework – the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) – aimed at ensuring that the new money produces results.

This year, the federal government will send the states more than $23.3 billion to implement the NCLBA – an increase of 40 percent, or $7 billion, above what was provided for K-12 improvement during fiscal 2001, the last year before the NCLBA was enacted. Specifically:

  • Title I, which aids America’s most disadvantaged students, will be increased to more than $12.7 billion – nearly $4 billion, or 45 percent, more than when NCLBA was initially signed into law.
  • Reading First and Early Reading First grants – the new initiatives President Bush sought so that every child learns to read – will be allocated $1.1 billion this year, more than four times what was spent on targeted reading improvement methods before enactment of the NCLBA.
  • Grants to states to recruit, train, and retain highly qualified teachers will be funded at $2.91 billion – up 35 percent since 2001.

The federal government has also committed to ensure that all disabled children receive an appropriate education. Since the change of congressional leadership that took place 11 years ago, Congress has dramatically increased spending for grants to states under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – by 360 percent. The share of special education costs borne by the federal government has increased from 7.3 percent of total costs to 18.7 percent in since 1995.

In Arizona, an estimated 852,612 public school children, 1,552 public schools and some 44,562 teachers will benefit from that additional IDEA funding. Funds for Title I will amount to 84.1 percent more than in 2001. The total amount of funding available to improve education in our state will have increased $5.7 million over last year alone.

But long and disappointing experience has demonstrated that money alone cannot produce improved educational outcomes. The NCLBA, therefore, moves to assure accountability by: 1) requiring that student progress is measured during the critical years during which many children fall behind (states, not the federal government, determine what tests should be used); 2) providing that there are real consequences for schools that persistently fail to make progress; and 3) giving state and local education leaders the administrative flexibility they need to make improvements.

Perhaps the most important change still needed is to expand the choices available to American families, while enhancing both the flexibility needed for innovation and the accountability needed to get results.

The House and Senate will soon begin work on legislation to fund Department of Education programs in FY2007, and I expect that the final version of the measure will build on the historic progress already achieved.

Congress will also be renewing a number of important statutes that have not been substantially altered in five years or more: the Higher Education Act, the Head Start statute, and the law governing vocational education programs.

Here are some of the other initiatives I’ve undertaken with respect to education in Arizona and around the country:

  • Responding to concerns that resources were not increasing as fast as enrollments, I worked with other Senators from states with rapidly growing populations to include in the NCLBA a provision directing the Department of Education to allot more Title I funds to states, like Arizona, with growing numbers of youngsters.
  • I led the fight to ensure that the infrastructure needs of Indian and military schools would be addressed before the federal government undertook any new effort to directly finance school construction (a job traditionally handled by state and local governments).
  • I have sponsored and supported legislation to implement notable choice and competition measures at the federal level – measures that trace their roots to Arizona’s own laws.
  • And I am particularly proud of an initiative I undertook that keeps in operation the Thomas J. Pappas School in Phoenix. A bill passed by the Senate's education committee would almost certainly have forced the state of Arizona to shut down the Pappas School, an institution that has enjoyed a remarkable record of success in meeting the special needs of homeless students. I drafted an amendment to ensure that Pappas remained open and eligible for federal homeless education funds; it was included in the final version of NCLBA and is now law.

Printable Version
Related Press Material:

08/28/06 Back to School

07/10/06 Education: An Investment in our Future

06/13/06 Kyl Calls for Increased Funding for Programs Critical to Forest Health

Senator Kyl's Education Online Assistance Center

Resources for Educators

Senator Kyl Legislation:
Roll Call Votes
Bills Sponsored
Bills Co-sponsored

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-2207

PHOENIX OFFICE
2200 East Camelback, Suite 120
Phoenix, Arizona 85016-3455
Phone: (602) 840-1891
Fax: (602) 957-6838

Privacy Policy || Accessibility Policy || Site Map

TUCSON OFFICE
7315 North Oracle Road, Suite 220
Tucson, Arizona 85704
Phone: (520) 575-8633
Fax: (520) 797-3232
Back Home