Senate Passes Democratic Education Bill That Rejects Most of President’s Program : Schools: The Administration hails the new aid measure as a compromise but says it does not go far enough.

WASHINGTON —  The Senate on Tuesday approved a Democrat-sponsored school aid bill that rejects most of President Bush’s education plan, which the White House had proposed last April in an effort to seize the initiative on the issue.

Although the Administration hailed the measure as a compromise, analysts said the bill, passed 92 to 6, was so different from Bush’s plan that the White House will have a difficult time claiming any sort of election year victory.

The measure now goes to the House, which is working on similar legislation drafted by the House Education and Labor Committee. Congressional strategists said final passage of the bill is likely by spring or early summer.

Predictably, spokesmen for the two sides offered differing assessments of the Senate’s action. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chief sponsor of the Democratic bill, called it a “giant step on the road back” to quality education.

Education Secretary Lamar Alexander has said that, although the bill “includes important parts” of the President’s program, it does “not go far enough fast enough” for the White House. “The President will keep fighting for more radical change in the education system,” he said.

The legislation is expected to become a major element in the election year battle between the two parties. Polls show that improving the education system is crucial to many voters.

Bush has pointed to improvement of public schools as a “defining issue” between him and Democratic candidates. The Democrats, in turn, have targeted the issue as a natural vehicle for their party to use in making inroads against the incumbent President.

Bush’s proposal, known as America 2000, had called for providing $690 million in direct grants to establish 535 so-called New American Schools--one in each congressional district--that would develop new “mold-breaking” educational techniques and later serve as prototypes.

Under the proposal, the money could have been used by public, private or parochial schools, or even by private corporations that offered credible plans to establish and run the non-traditional schools. The grants were to be awarded on the basis of competition.

Bush also had sought to provide poor families with education vouchers--in effect, government financing--that would have enabled low-income parents to switch their youngsters to private or parochial schools if they thought better schooling could be obtained.

That provision was opposed vigorously by state and local education authorities, who contended that it would undermine the public education system and erode traditional barriers between church and state.

The bill passed by the Senate scrapped virtually all of Bush’s proposals. Instead of providing direct grants to new prototype schools, the measure would allot $850 million to the states, which then would rechannel the money to improve existing schools.

Only public schools--not private or parochial schools--would be eligible for the grants, and the money would go solely to schools in high-poverty areas that have low student achievement levels. Bush’s plan to provide educational vouchers was eliminated.

The Administration did win one concession from the Senate Democrats: Under the bill, states may use up to 15% of the money they receive to establish model “New American Schools.” But again, the grants would go only to public schools.

The measure also scraps two other provisions in Bush’s program: A proposal to set national standards for educational achievement was deferred, and a Bush plan to institute merit pay for teachers was dropped.