THE 106TH CONGRESS, ONCE IT GETS PAST THE impeachment drama, will have a rare chance to tackle another set of Washington-style crimes and misdemeanors: 34 years of federal education policy and programs so misguided that today they undermine the prospects of reforming the nation’s woeful schools.
Most of the big federal-aid programs are due for renewal this year. They are also ripe for rethinking. Three decades after Lyndon Johnson rammed through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, it’s generally acknowledged that the 60-odd programs enshrined in that massive statute (at an annual cost of some $ 11 billion nowadays) have failed to accomplish their goals or solve the country’s nagging problems of school effectiveness and pupil achievement. Indeed, these programs now get in the way of change-minded states and communities.
