House and Senate conference committee members who were expected to reach agreement on the education overhaul bill (HR 1) early this week have not yet come to consensus on the package’s funding and accountability provisions. The measure, which passed in the House on May 23 and in the Senate on June 14, would penalize states, school districts, and schools for failing to meet “adequate yearly progress” as measured by student performance on math and reading tests. The White House is pressuring lawmakers to come to agreement on education policy before Congress adjourns.The Supreme Court will decide whether the Constitution permits the use of public funds for tuition at private and religious schools. The high court will hear a case involving a school voucher program created by the Ohio legislature in 1995. It provides a maximum of $2,250 each to about 3,700 mostly low-income students whose parents prefer to send them to private nonsectarian schools, religious schools or suburban public schools.

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