politics

Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline has introduced his party's latest plan to overhaul the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- and much like a series of bills that Kline introduced last year, the legislation seeks to reduce the federal government's footprint in K-12 education.

Kline's Student Success Act would cut or consolidate dozens of education programs, give districts greater flexibility in how they use funds and ease the path to open more charter schools.

First passed in 2001, No Child Left Behind was designed to grant the U.S. Department of Education more authority to hold school districts and states accountable for the academic performance of struggling students.

The law expired in 2007, but has yet to be rewritten, despite frustration from Democrats and Republicans and criticism that the law has done little to improve the education of minority and low-income students.

"We're trying to get at replacing the broken law, the failed system," said Kline, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "The federal government has gotten too involved into states and [local] school district's business."

Kline's legislation would eviscerate the Obama administration's state waiver program, a tool used by the White House to encourage states to implement the president's preferred education programs. In exchange for their cooperation, they're granted reprieves from some of the law's requirements.

Kline's bill would also repeal grant programs, such as Race to the Top and Promise Neighborhoods, created by the Obama administration.

"We're trying to get at replacing the broken law, the failed system," said Kline, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "The federal government has gotten too involved into states and [local] school district's business."

The lead Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, U.S. Rep. George Miller of California, criticized Kline's plan, calling it a highly partisan retread of last year's bill.

"I am disappointed that Chairman Kline decided to move forward with last year's rendition of legislation that turns the clock back decades on student achievement, equity and accountability in American public education," Miller said.

Kline expects his committee to take up the legislation June 19 with hopes that it will pass the Republican-led House before Congress' month-long August recess.

The Democratic-led Senate Education Committee introduced their latest proposal Tuesday and it's vastly different than Kline's legislation.

The principal difference is that, unlike their Republican colleagues, Democratic lawmakers have pushed to retain many of the law's originals goals, keeping federal pressure on schools to improve education for minority and low-income students.

"I have a lot of problems with [the] legislation," Kline said. "I'm interested in getting the debate going and actually changing this law."

The U.S. Senate deadlocked Thursday over federal student loan rates, narrowing their window to prevent rates on certain loans from doubling for about 7 million borrowers on July 1.

With rates for new subsidized loans scheduled to jump to 6.8 percent in roughly three weeks unless Congress acts, competing bills fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster in the Democratic-led upper chamber.

Republicans blocked a Democratic plan, supported by U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, that would lock in the current 3.4 percent rate for subsidized loans two years, allowing Congress more time to debate an overhaul of federal lending.

Klobuchar and Franken were among the Democrats who thwarted a Republican proposal that would tie loan rates to the yield on the government's 10-year Treasury bill, plus 3 percentage points.

The issues hits home for lawmakers in Minnesota, where the average college graduates leaves school with nearly $30,000 in debt.

"... the last thing Congress should do is saddle future graduates with more debt," Franken said in a statement. "I'm disheartened that today we weren't able to prevent the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans from doubling, but I will keep fighting until we get the job done."

Like their colleagues in the Senate, the Republican-led House already passed legislation that would link students' loan rates to financial markets. The House plan, written by Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline, would reset interest rates every year, but include a cap on interest rates facing students.

President Obama threatened to veto his legislation, arguing that the plan would create uncertainty for students and families beacuse the rates would rise or fall with the market each year.

Thursday's developments frustrated Kline, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

"The Senate showed us again today that they can't get anything done," he said. "They can sit back and criticize us, but they need to pass something."

Last year, with the July 1 deadline looming, lawmakers approved a one-year extension of the 3.4 percent rate.

This year, committee leaders, including Kline, hoped to hammer out deals in their respective chambers before coming together to iron out the differences before the cutoff date. But the prospects for compromise seem dimmer this time around, lawmakers said Thursday.

DELANO — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s decision to retire has lit a frenzy of ambition among Sixth District Republicans, and the first to come out blazing was 2010 gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer.

“I have never felt more compelled in my life to serve,” Emmer said to at least 100 supporters at a tiny park here in his hometown. During a brief dry spell in the daylong rain, Emmer ticked off the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, the Justice Department’s search of reporters’ records and out of control spending as reasons to run. “Is this the legacy we want to leave to our children?” he said. “The answer obviously is no and the time to act is now.”

Tom Emmer as he announces his congressional run//Jeff Wheeler

Emmer’s return to electoral politics a week after Bachmann said she would not run for re-election highlights the new energy in a conservative district Republicans had feared they would lose and Democrats had hoped they would snatch. Bachmann’s increasingly controversial profile and tumultuous four terms in Congress had put even the state’s Republican-filled district at risk, operatives from both parties said.

“Rep. Bachmann would have faced an uphill race,” that would have forced the GOP to pump in cash to defend her turf, said Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman, now a lobbyist and political king maker in Washington, DC.

Bachmann herself has been unusually quiet since last week, when she released a pre-dawn video announcing she would not return to Congress after this term. She then jetted off to Russia on a congression fact-finding trip. Since her return, she has declined Star Tribune requests for an interview.

With Bachmann no longer a factor, other Republican are lustfully eyeing the rare open seat in a reliably conservative district that takes in exurban Carver and Wright counties, suburban Anoka and St. Cloud.

“No question this should be a Republican district, but we can definitely lose it if we get complacent or nominate the wrong candidate,” said Pat Shortridge, who managed two of Republican Mark Kennedy’s successful campaigns for the district and who is considering running for it himself this year. “You don’t win the Sixth just by putting a Republican name on the ballot.”

A week after Bachmann’s announcement, not a single DFL has stepped forward. One day after Bachmann’s withdrawal, DFLer Jim Graves had pledged to continue his bid for the seat, but soon reversed himself and dropped out.