Bush to Congress: Give Me an Education Bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Launching a weeklong focus on reading and education, President Bush urged lawmakers on Saturday to iron out their differences on a school reform package so it could be implemented soon.

Bush, who has repeatedly called on the two houses of Congress to settle their differences over his education reform plan, kicked off a week of talking about education with a radio address focused on how every child needed to learn to read.

"At the heart of my education reforms is a confident belief that every child can learn if given the chance," said Bush, who has set a goal of ensuring that every child can read by the end of the third grade. "When our expectations are high, America's children will rise to meet them."

Bush said his budget provided the necessary resources to meet the goals, including a tripling of the amount of federal money available for reading programs across the country.

Congress is still wrangling over the amount of money it feels is needed to implement the country's broadest education reform in 35 years.

The House of Representatives and the Senate have passed rival bills, which both call for annual testing of students in reading and math. They differ on how to hold schools accountable and are billions of dollars apart on the amount of money they would need to spend.

"I have agreed with the Congress that we must increase education spending," Bush said. "But some, for whom the increases this year may not be enough, are threatening to stall these much needed reforms."

"That is a tactic of the past in Washington that has neither worked for our country, no, more sadly, for our children. After many years of debate, the American people are counting on us to deliver on our promise of reform for the public schools."

The Republican-led House bill authorizes $23 billion in fiscal 2002, while the Democratic-run Senate's version would total $41.8 billion, including key amendments opposed by the White House.

BUSH SAYS TIME TO FINISH THE DEAL

Noting that the hardest work was already accomplished, with the passage of bills that hold schools accountable and demand results, Bush said it was time to finish the deal.

"We have a chance now to pass education reform based on good principles," he said. "When the Congress sends me that bill I will sign it, and I urge the Congress to send it quickly."

Next week, lawmakers will resume negotiations to work out the differences between the two bills. Congressional aides say several provisions of the final package, including Bush's "Reading First" initiative, which invests in scientifically based reading instruction programs for younger children, could be ratified by the conference committee next week.

After a weekend of events related to the book festival, Bush will speak at several education events over the next week, starting with speeches in Florida on reading and education on Monday and Tuesday.

First Lady Laura Bush, a former librarian and schoolteacher who has championed the importance of reading, will testify on Capitol Hill about early child cognitive development.

On Thursday, Bush and the first lady will speak at the White House Assembly on Reading at the Library of Congress.

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