Church official urges hurricane school aid be distributed efficiently

Published: 2005-10-10

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Getting federal aid to schools affected by the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region should not be hindered by the way the funds could be dispersed, said the education secretary for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In an Oct. 5 letter to the House Education and the Work Force Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, Dominican Sister Glenn Anne McPhee expressed "significant reservations" about recent discussions by members of Congress stipulating that any aid given to private schools be distributed through public school districts following the model of how federal funds are distributed in the No Child Left Behind legislation. "The hurricanes did not distinguish between public, private or religious schools at any level: preschool, elementary, secondary or postsecondary," said Sister McPhee. "Therefore assistance should be equitably provided to all those affected in a way that will be the most effective, flexible and quickest way of accomplishing the goal of restoring some degree of normality to the lives of all those impacted and displaced."

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