WASHINGTON, D.C. - Just hours after a major speech by President Bush urging Americans to join in “building a system of education worthy of all America's children,” House and Senate negotiators working to finalize the President’s education plan met Wednesday to ratify a series of early agreements that will help disadvantaged students.

            “These agreements share a common theme: they reach out to students who have been dealt a more difficult hand in life,” said Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), the chairman of the House-Senate conference. “Our talks at all levels have been marked by good faith and a common desire to give our children the best education in the world. We’re off to a very good start.”

            “The President made clear today that real accountability is essential if we are to close the troubling and growing performance gap between minority and disadvantaged students and their peers,” Boehner said. “He emphasized that the bar for adequate school performance must be rigorous, achievable, targeted to all groups, and raised gradually. He noted that tests within a state must be comparable from place to place and year to year so parents know who’s making progress and who’s falling behind.”

            “The President’s remarks today give valuable direction to the conference process, which will continue through August,” Boehner said. President Bush has urged Congress to give top priority to completing the education bill. With Congress’ traditional August district work period set to begin Friday, conference aides will meet daily throughout the month of August in hopes that a final product can be ratified by members in September as students return to school.

            During Wednesday’s meeting, Boehner urged conferees to consider ways to streamline federal education programs and focus resources directly on helping disadvantaged students.

            “We must decide whether we are serious about rededicating the federal role in education to helping poor students,” Boehner said. “Will we make significant increases in funding and target those resources to current programs that help poor children learn? Or will we use those resources to create a host of new programs that, while well-intentioned, make it more difficult to help the students who need help the most?”

• Migrant Students. Conferees reached an agreement on migrant education that will help states and local school districts better meet the needs of migratory children, ensuring that their academic records can be properly kept and shared as they change schools and locations.
  
  
• Neglected and Delinquent Students. Conferees have agreed to refocus the Neglected and Delinquent program on the goal of providing services to youth returning from correctional facilities. The agreement would make it easier for children to make the transition from state institutions to local school districts and allow the use of funds for several new activities, including peer mediation and mentoring.
  
  
• Homeless Students. Negotiators have agreed to give greater flexibility to states in providing technical assistance to local school districts to help them respond to the needs of homeless students. The agreement would also prohibit states from segregating students based on their homeless status, and address transportation issues children in homeless situations face.
  
  
• Comprehensive School Reform. Conferees have agreed on a number of changes to better enable schools to implement research-based reforms. Agreements include changes to state application requirements to ensure that schools are selecting school providers that are financially stable and ready to provide high quality assistance. Conferees also agreed to encourage local school districts that apply for grants to emphasize scientifically based research and effective practices.

            Conferees also agreed that the final legislation will be a six-year reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The House-passed bill was a five-year reauthorization; the Senate-passed bill was a six-year reauthorization.

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