================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 52 ISSN 1069-7799 May 20, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (119 lines) ACTION ALERT: WEDNESDAY, MAY 21 MARKUP ON THE DOLLARS TO THE CLASSROOM ACT _________________________________________________________________ ACTION ALERT: WEDNESDAY, MAY 21 MARKUP ON THE DOLLARS TO THE CLASSROOM ACT ACTION NEEDED: Library supporters, particularly school library media specialists, should call their representatives on the House Education and the Workforce Committee to register their opposition to H.R. 3248, the Dollars to the Classroom Act (see BACKGROUND below). HOUSE EDUCATION & THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE ST-DST PTY REPRESENTATIVE PHONE FAX (Use 202 area code) CA-1 R Frank Riggs 225-3311 225-3403 CA-6 D Lynn C. Woolsey 225-5161 225-5163 CA-7 D George Miller 225-2095 225-5609 CA-25 R Howard P. McKeon 225-1956 226-0683 CA-31 D Matthew G. Martinez 225-5464 225-5467 CA-46 D Loretta Sanchez 225-2965 225-5859 CO-4 R Bob Schaffer 225-4676 225-5870 DE-1 R Michael N. Castle 225-4165 225-2291 FL-1 R Joe Scarborough 225-4136 225-3414 GA-9 R Nathan Deal 225-5211 225-8272 GA-10 R Charles W. Norwood 225-4101 225-0279 HI-2 D Patsy T. Mink 225-4906 225-4987 IL-13 R Harris W. Fawell 225-3515 225-9420 IN-2 R David M. McIntosh 225-3021 225-3382 IN-3 D Tim Roemer 225-3915 225-6798 IN-4 R Mark E. Souder 225-4436 225-3479 MA-6 D John F. Tierney 225-8020 225-5915 MI-2 R Peter Hoekstra 225-4401 226-0779 MI-6 R Frederick S. Upton 225-3761 225-4986 MI-9 D Dale E. Kildee 225-3611 225-6393 MI-11 R Joe Knollenberg 225-5802 226-2356 MS-4 R Mike Parker 225-5865 225-5886 MO-1 D Bill Clay, ranking min. 225-2406 225-1725 MO-2 R James M. Talent 225-2561 225-2563 NE-3 R Bill E. Barrett 225-6435 NJ-1 D Robert E. Andrews 225-6501 225-6583 NJ-5 R Marge S. Roukema 225-4465 225-9048 NJ-10 D Donald M. Payne 225-3436 225-4160 NY-4 D Carolyn McCarthy 225-5516 225-5758 NY-11 D Major R. Owens 225-6231 226-0112 NC-10 R Cass Ballenger 225-2576 225-0316 OH-10 D Dennis J. Kucinich 225-5871 225-5745 PA-2 D Chaka Fattah 225-4001 226-0311 PA-5 R John E. Peterson 225-5121 225-5796 PA-8 R James C. Greenwood 225-4276 225-9511 PA-19 R William F. Goodling, chair 225-5836 226-1000 SC-3 R Lindsey O. Graham 225-5301 225-3216 TN-4 R Van Hilleary 225-6831 225-3272 TN-9 D Harold E. Ford 225-3265 225-5663 TX-3 R Sam Johnson 225-4201 225-1485 TX-14 R Ron Paul 225-2831 226-4871 TX-15 D Ruben Hinojosa 225-2531 225-5688 VA-3 D Robert C. Scott 225-8351 225-8354 WI-3 D Ron Kind 225-5506 225-5739 WI-6 R Thomas E. Petri 225-2476 225-2356 PR-0 D Carlos Romero-Barcelo 225-2615 225-2154 BACKGROUND: On Tuesday, May 5 the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing on the Dollars to the Classroom Act (H.R. 3248) sponsored by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) and 74 other members. H.R. 3248, if enacted, would block grant 30 K-12 federal education programs totaling $3.3 billion. Ninety-five percent of the new block grant would be slated for classroom activities and services. The bill would consolidate Goals 2000 Educate America Act, the Educational Research, Development, Disseminations and Improvement Act of 1994; the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. H.R. 3248 would also require states to send no less than 95 percent for distribution to local educational agencies (LEAs). This would effectively merge the major programs and eliminate programmatic requirements. ESEA Title VI would become part of this large block of funds. Further, school library media centers may not qualify as "classrooms" under this legislation. This legislation is similar to the approach proposed last session by Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) which sought to block grant many major education programs and was opposed by many education groups including ALA (see ALAWON v7, n43, April 24, 1998). A markup on the bill is scheduled by the Education and the Workforce Committee for May 21. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Mary Costabile All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================