EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
(THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN COORDINATED BY OMB WITH THE CONCERNED AGENCIES.)


October 30, 1997
(House)


H.R. 2746 - Helping Empower Low-income Parents (HELP)
Scholarships Amendments of 1997
(Rep. Riggs (R) CA and 11 others)

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 2746. If the bill were presented to the President, his senior advisers would recommend that the bill be vetoed. Under H.R. 2746, States and local school districts could provide vouchers for basic instruction in private schools, using funds that are otherwise available for the supplementary costs of education reform under Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Federal funding of private school vouchers is bad policy because it would divert needed attention and resources from the Nation's public schools, which serve approximately 90 percent of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.