Speech #980219426

I rise in support of the amendment offered by my colleague on the Education and Labor Committee. Mr. GOODLING. that would assure equitable treatment for schools that will have to educate large numbers of refugee children and adults if this legislation is adopted. Further. this amendment is identical to amendments adopted by our committee last year when we considered this legislation which conform the provision in this bill to the 1980 Refugee Education Assistance Act. Specifically. this amendment would place a cap on the amount of aid per child that would be provided to local schools. The basic grant would be set at $400 per child and additional grants would be provided to schools with substantial numbers of eligible children. such as New York City. Supplemental aid under this provision would be allocated to those districts which have refugee children that comprise 500 students or 5 percent of the school population. Amounts range from an added $300 to $700 per child. depending upon area of enrollment. This amendment also provides aid to States for adult education programs of $300 per enrolled adult age 16 years and older. Aid under this bill would be decreased over a 3year period and is targeted to those areas in greatest need. While funds under this bill do not reflect the full costs of educationit does provide some muchneeded relief to local school districts which have been heavily impacted by refugees. I maintain that when the Federal Government mandates educational programsit has a responsibility to provide funding for these programs so that school districts. such as New York. where there are large numbers of refugees and higher than average costs of attendance. In this school year. New York City has received a mere $736.210 to provide educational services to 44.043 refugee children under the Refugee Education Assistance Act. Under this amendment offered by Mr. GOODLING. New York City would receive between $700 and $1.100 per child. If this bill is adopted in its present form. New York City estimates that 750.000 illegal aliens could come forward to become legalizedwhich means they would need educational services provided for under this amendment. At the very leastthis translates into $4.4 million in Federal aid next yearwhich could grow higher based on how many children. in fact. do step forward to become legalized and seek services. I believe this amendment merits our strong support for it brings equity to localities which have been absorbing large numbers of new students that have special educational needs.