LIADA Newsletter     March 2001  

Guest Editorial: No Child Left Behind, Check the Math

"No child left behind."

President Bush has an admirable rallying cry. Unfortunately, he is not committed to following through on his rhetoric. I graduated from an urban public school that the President might label as failing, but l did learn simple math and reading for content.

Here's the simple math. The projected budget surplus equals $5.6 trillion (that's 11 zeros after the 5.6) over the next ten years. If you believe (as the President and I do) that Social Security taxes should fund nothing but Social Security, you must deduct $2.5 trillion from this amount. Then deduct another $900 billion for trust funds in other lock boxes: Medicare, highway, military retirement. The surplus quickly shrinks to $2.2 trillion.

If the President's $1.6 trillion tax cut (most of which would go to the wealthiest 2 percent) passes, our surplus is down to $600 billion. But that $1.6 trillion would have been used to pay down the national debt. Without those funds, we will be required to pay an additional $400 billion in interest payments. Now the surplus is down to $200 billion.

But not for long. In order for the wealthiest taxpayers to enjoy their tax breaks, the President must amend something called the alternative minimum tax. That eliminates the final $200 billion, leaving us without a surplus. Let's double check the math. Big surplus minus Social Security lockbox, minus tax cut, minus interest on debt - yup, it seems right. Zero surplus! That's one zero, with nothing else around it. No surplus for medical research, military pay increases, prescription drugs, or education.

Now, let's tackle the reading....You learn that the President would permit any student from a school that tests poorly to take $1500 of Title I funding out of the failing school and transfer it to another school. Imagine a typical K-8 school with 50 students in each grade, 25 in each class. If that school loses tow students from each class, it loses $54,000 with no way to cut costs to meet that loss. If a school were to cut one teacher, one grade would be left with a class of 46. That cannot be the President's goal. This would accelerate the downward spiral and leave those who remain significantly worse off: 36 subsidized, 414 harmed.

What about the private schools that would receive the Title I funds? Must they offer classes for special needs children? Can they demand religious conversion? Who will review their curriculum? We already know they won't be held accountable - the President's plan exempts private schools from hi> high-stakes testing.

And what about justice? Even if we exclude schools that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, or gender, no private school accepts every applicant, and all can expel at will. So what remains in public schools? Children with disabilities, children with developmental problems, children from families where homework is not checked. The neediest and most troubled children - those who most need our help and cost the most to educate - will not disappear. Maybe President Bush should call his proposal "Leave some children behind."

With a zero surplus, what programs will the President cut to fund his proposal? Will ii be   worth   the  trade-off     You   decide Remember, it's all just reading for content and simple math.

— Michael E. Capuano

Michael E. Capuano is the U Representative from the 8th District in Massachusetts. A Democrat, he is a member of the Budget Committee and the Financial Services Committee.

Another reactionary Bush appointment

President Bush's nomination of John Bolton to be the new Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation and International Security is deeply troubling.

Mr. Bolton has publicly denounced key arms control treaties. He has called for the United States to recognize Taiwan as a state over China's objections, a move which would heighten nuclear tension in that region. He has called for the United States to stop paying dues to the United Nations, a key forum for arms control negotiations. Mr. Bolton has denounced U.S. negotiations with North Korea to halt its missile development program, calling for a "get tough" stance instead.

Mr. Bolton is on the political fringe, taking positions out of line with a number of other Bush appointees and advisors, including Secretary of State Colin Powell. He is not an appropriate nominee for this important position.

Bush budget plan unveiled

In an address to a joint session of Congress, President Bush unveiled his much anticipated budget proposal. The plan calls for a $1.9 trillion budget for this year and an overall budget of more than $22 trillion over the next decade.

Included in the Bush plan are spending increases in Defense (a 4.8% increase), Education (1! .5%), and Veteran Services (4.5%). Slated for cuts are Agriculture (-7.7%), Energy (-3.6%), and Transportation (-11.4%).

The plan also includes a breakdown of how the supposed $5.6 trillion surplus will be doled out over the next ten years - $2.6 trillion set aside for Social Security and $1.6 trillion for tax relief, with the remnants set aside as a cushion for priorities such as Medicare reform, debt relief, and "unexpected" expenses.

Attacks on Bush's budget, especially the highly controversial tax cut, have come with increasing intensity. Liberals and conservatives alike are already ardently questioning how exactly the boosts and cuts will fit within the budget, complaining that critical details have been left out. For example, Bush's proposal claims there would be an 11.5% increase in the Education budget, but these figures have inspired a good deal of skepticism, notably among Democrats who have found the actual increase to be only 5%

But the controversy does not stop there. Opponents on both sides of the aisle have noted that the $1.6 trillion tax cut will put a much larger than $2 trillion-plus dent in the $5.6 trillion surplus, leaving less than $1 trillion for vital discretionary spending. Jack Lew, former director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), calls this a "reckless gamble." He points out that "the budget must set aside (an additional) $400 billion for the interest on federal debt that will not be retired as a result of the tax cut. This would appear to leave $316 billion for everything else."

There are also worries that the tax cut is not helping those who truly need it. Democrats vociferously criticized the cut. which caters to the rich, giving a $46,000 break to someone making $25,000 a month, and setting aside 43% of the benefits for the top one percent.

Participate in critical D.C. march

On Sunday, April 22, thousands of supporters of women's rights will take to the streets of Washington to participate in the National Organization for Women (NOW)-sponsored Emergency March for Women's Lives.

The purpose of this massive demonstration will be to show Congress and President Bush that supporters of safe, legal abortion and reproductive freedom are the overwhelming majority.

The group will assemble at 11 a.m. in the Upper Senate Park, and will rally at 1 p.m. next to the Washington Monument. Call (202) 628-8669, ext. 0 for additional information.