Congress eliminated private-school vouchers from the No Child Left Behind legislation, but President Bush hasn't yet given up on them.
In his 2004 budget, released Monday, Bush requested $ 756 million to help kids attend private, parochial and alternative schools at taxpayer expense.

The budget is the latest salvo in the voucher battle. It pits Bush and other conservatives, who say injecting market competition into schools will make them better, against the education establishment and most Democrats, who say vouchers would drain money from public schools. Vouchers were part of Bush's original education plan, but Republicans agreed to get rid of the $ 1,500 allowances to forge a bipartisan bill.

In the new budget, Bush's fund would offer states incentives to provide low-income students with tax money so they can attend the schools of their choice, including private schools or charter schools that operate with public money but fewer regulations.

"It's unfortunate that the same bad ideas that have gone nowhere in Congress in the last two years are back on the agenda," says Marc Egan of the National School Boards Association. "There was bipartisan rejection of vouchers during the No Child Left Behind debate, and to us, No Child Left Behind is predicated on public accountability. Vouchers would be a U-turn on that road, because private schools are not accountable to the taxpayers."

Previously, Bush has backed legislation that would let families set up tax-free education savings accounts for private-school tuition, and Education Secretary Rod Paige last September announced that Nina Shokraii Rees would head the department's new Office of Innovation and Improvement, which promotes charter and magnet schools as well as providing parents with "information about their choices."

A former assistant to Vice President Cheney, she literally wrote the book on vouchers as an education analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "School Choice: What's Happening in the States" is a widely read annual analysis of state efforts on vouchers and charters.

"The simple act of giving parents the power to do what they think is best for their children can be a powerful tool in closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers," says U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Education Committee.

"We want the parents to be in control and the parents to make the decision," says Republican New Hampshire State Rep. Ken Weyler, author of a bill that would offer $ 3,500 per child in state aid to attend a private or parochial school.

Overall, education does well in Bush's new budget, with a proposed 5.6% increase. The president:

* Seeks $ 1 billion more for programs serving poor students.

* Proposes increasing the Pell Grant college funding program by $ 1.8 billion, but all of that would make up a shortfall. The average grant actually would drop $ 53 to $ 2,369, because more students are applying.

* Seeks $ 1 billion more for disabled students for a total of $ 9.5 billion.

But critics say that is far less than the $ 19 billion Congress has promised to fully finance the program.

"It is unconscionable that the administration can find funding for private schools, but they cannot fully fund the No Child Left Behind act," says Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.