ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609300078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Virginia's attempt to get Goals 2000 funding for classroom computers through a bill in Congress has died.
As congressional and White House negotiators discussed terms of a catchall spending bill Friday night, attempts to attach a provision to allow Gov. George Allen to get the money were rejected.
``The [Clinton] administration had a very, very strong objection'' to the measure, said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who worked with Allen on the issue. And Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Mark Hatfield didn't want to risk attaching riders that might draw a presidential veto.
Virginia is the only state that rejected Goals 2000 funding, about $6.7 million, and has refused to allow its localities participate in the program.
Allen has maintained that the federal money would carry intrusive mandates and restrictions. He sought the legislation allowing Virginia to spend the money for computers without any federal strings attached.
Warner said he had discussed the issue with Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., and key Senate Appropriations Committee members who were talking with the administration.
Robb said after a meeting with Warner that he believed Allen's objective of spending money for classroom computers ``was entirely compatible'' with the current Goals 2000 program.
``Everyone that has looked at the question has come to the same conclusion, with the exception of Gov. Allen,'' Robb said.
Robb pointed to correspondence from the Department of Education that he said supported his view, and to a letter by former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, now the GOP presidential candidate. The letter said schools could use up to 100 percent of their Goals 2000 money to buy computers ``or other technologies.''
Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe criticized Robb's comments.
``I think it's unfortunate that Chuck Robb and Bill Clinton are playing election-year politics with the federal budget,'' Stroupe said.
The U.S. Department of Education set several criteria for states to use Goals 2000 money for classroom computers, and ``those criteria are not free. It was a mandate on Virginia's schools,'' he said.
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