August 2000 Contents
Final Appropriations in for Labor, Health and Education
The Labor, Health and Education Appropriations Conference Committee
met at
the end of July to finalize the funding figures for H.R. 4577, the
FY01 Appropriations
for Labor, Health and Education programs. The Conference Committee has
now completed
action on the bill. Sen. Specter and Rep. Porter have not yet
determined whether
to file the conference report for approval by Congress or to begin
negotiations
directly with the Administration on final appropriations figures,
bypassing
Congress altogether.
The Conference Committee agreed to increase funding for education
programs
from the Senate’s figure of $40 billion to $41 billion. Education
technology
received a sizeable funding increase in many of its programs. The
following
is a list of programs and proposed funding levels (in millions)
included in
the Conference Committee recommendations relative to last year’s
budget
figures.
- Technology Literacy Challenge Fund $450 (up $25 million)
- Technology Innovation Challenge Grants $190 (up $43.7
million)
- Teacher Technology Training (Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to
Use Technology)
$125 (up $50 million)
- Community Technology Centers (CTCs) $53 (up $21.5 million)
- Star Schools $50.6 (up $100,000)
Currently, the Conference Committee version does not include a filtering provision.
Sens. McCain and Santorum and Reps. Bliley and Istook are working on compromise
language to insert into the bill if they are able to reach an agreement. See
Action
Alert. Sen. Specter has indicated that he will not accept an Internet
filtering provision unless there is unanimous agreement.
Prepared by Leslie Harris, Jee Hang Lee, and Ghani Raines
On behalf of the International Society for Technology in
Education.
© ISTE, 2000
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