appropriation as is the traditional practice. This has had the practical effect of involving the OMB in decisions about NIH science which go beyond the financial control and accountability issues which are the basis for the apportionment requirements. The Committee understands that this change in apportionment procedures may have been imposed because of the statutory floor on the number of new and competing grants contained in the bill in fiscal years 1986 and 1987. This is one of the principal reasons why the Committee is recommending that the number of grants not be included in the bill for 1988, but has instead included bill language precluding multiyear or forward funding of grants in fiscal year 1988, except as specifically required because of the needs of the scientific program and improved management efficiencies. In concert with this change, and with the overall policy of giving maximum flexibility to NIH in managing its programs, the Committee has added bill language to require that NIH funds be apportioned under the normal executive branch procedures-that is, at the appropriation level. Title X regulations The Committee added bill language to retain the current regulations and guidelines of the family planning (title X) program that were in effect as of August 31, 1987. These regulations and guidelines have been in effect since 1980. Social Security coverage The Committee has added a new general provision (section 217) which would permit the State of Iowa to modify retroactively its voluntary agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to validate Social Security coverage for certain police officers and firefighters. Public Health Service full-time equivalents The Committee notes that while the AIDS budget has approximately doubled every year since fiscal year 1983, the Public Health Service [PHS] has had to divert its personnel from other important areas of responsibility in order to effectively manage its AIDS efforts. Since 1983, the Office of Management and Budget has required PHS to reduce its staff by almost 3,000 full-time equivalents [FTE's]. During this same period of time, FTE requirements for AIDS have increased by over 800 FTE's. The Committee has continually expressed this concern through language contained in the report accompanying the appropriations bill. However, the Administration has ignored this direction. The Committee, therefore, has included bill language directing that all PHS programs included in this bill be exempt from having any personnel ceiling imposed, or any other action which would have the effect of restricting PHS programs from carrying out the activities funded by Congress in the Department of Health and Human Services appropriation acts. This restriction will apply to the Health Resources and Services Administration; the Centers for Disease Control; the National Institutes of Health; the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. The Committee is extremely concerned that the PHS programs have the flexibility to use funds appropriated to hire Federal employees to ensure that high-priority initiatives such as AIDS, biomedical research, Alzheimer's disease, sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, mental health, and other priority areas for which additional funds and FTE increases are identified in committee reports can be accomplished. The Committee has been informed that only 45 percent of the fiscal year 1987 PHS AIDS appropriation of $494,075,000 had been obligated as of July 31, 1987. For CDC, only 39 percent and for ADAMHA, only 35 percent had been obligated. The Committee has been concerned about the slowness with which CDC and ADAMHA have obligated the fiscal year 1987 AIDS resources appropriated for high-priority information and education activities. The Committee has also expressed its concern about the slowness with which the substance abuse funds have been obligated by ADAMHA. The removal of FTE limitation constraints will enable the PHS agencies to hire staff when necessary to act more swiftly and effectively to carry out their responsibilities including appropriate responses to Committee directives. The Committee wil! carefully review the FTE requirements and utilization of the PHS activities. The Committee expects the PHS agencies and programs to continue to manage their FTE's wisely and does not anticipate that the inclusion of this language will result in large increases in the number of FTE's. For example, the Committee's action is not intended to restrict PHS agencies and programs from contracting out certain activities and services when the PHS agencies and programs determine that such action is advantageous to the Federal Government. To provide guidance in this area, the Committee has included a table to serve as a guide (not a ceiling) on the level of FTE's provided by the Committee to carry out the fiscal year 1988 Committee appropriation allowances. However, the Committee fully expects that specific Committee approval will be sought before any of these agency FTE guidelines are exceeded by more than 5 percent. The Committee expects each PHS agency and program organization to include a separate FTE budget justification summary for its fiscal year 1988 and fiscal year 1989 FTE requirements as a part of its fiscal year 1989 budget request. The fiscal year 1988 estimate should identify the level planned by each PHS program to carry out the appropriation provided, including AIDS, specific appropriated increases and reimbursements. Detailed justifications for the fiscal year 1989 request should also be provided. The table follows: TITLE III-DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR DROPOUT PREVENTION The Committee is deeply concerned with the alarming rate of school dropouts, especially among “at risk” populations including underprivileged and ethnic minority students. A recent Stanford University study concluded that school dropouts cost U.S. citizens about $77,000,000,000 annually in lost tax revenues and costs associated with crime prevention and social services. A recent report from the corporate community noted that each year's class of dropouts costs the Nation more than $240,000,000,000 in lost earnings and foregone taxes over their lifetime. While the Committee does not assume that the Federal initiatives in this bill will solve the dropout problem, it expects that these efforts will better enable States and localities to engage in dropout prevention activities and improve student retention. The Committee has employed a variety of strategies to address the dropout problem. These include: -An increase of $132,000,000 for the Head Start Program providing the maximum authorized level of this early intervention program. Studies have indicated that early intervention programs demonstrate extraordinary success in setting disadvantaged youngsters on a course toward success and accomplishment. -$2,000,000 in demonstration funds within the Department of Education to better develop and disseminate exemplary early intervention programs. -An increase of $533,000,000 for the compensatory education (chapter 1) program to provide special remedial services to disadvantaged youth, especially in the early elementary grades. Included within this funding rise is an increase for services focused on the children of migrant farmworkers and fishermen, perhaps the group most at risk of academic failure. -$25,000,000 in startup funding for model demonstration programs in dropout prevention as authorized under the Senate Trade Act (H.R. 3, as amended by S. 1420) and the House Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5). -$10,000,000 for the demonstration of model dropout prevention activities within vocational education. -Full funding, $250,000,000, for the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to enhance the national effort at ridding our schools of drug-related maladies that endanger student persistence. (196) The Committee recommends an appropriation of $4,486,000,000 for compensatory education for the disadvantaged. This is $341,837,000 more than the administration's request and $534,337,000 more than the fiscal year 1987 comparable appropriation. The House allowed $4,603,000,000. Programs financed under this account are authorized by chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 and section 418A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. The administration has proposed legislation to reauthorize the chapter 1 programs, but the Congress has yet to complete action on such legislation. Thus, the Committee's action is based upon current law. Chapter 1 programs provide financial assistance to State and local educational agencies to meet the special educational needs of educationally disadvantaged children, migrant children, handicapped children in State run or operated programs, neglected and delinquent children in State institutions, and juveniles in adult correctional institutions. Funds for each of these programs are allocated on a formula based on the number of eligible children and each State's average per pupil expenditure. The High School Equivalency Program [HEP] and College Assistance Migrant Program [CAMP] were recently reauthorized under the Higher Education Amendments of 1987. These programs provide grants to institutions of higher education to assist migrant and seasonal farmworkers past the age of compulsory school attendance to complete the courses necessary to receive a high school diploma or its equivalent, and to assist migrant students enrolled in their first undergraduate year at a college or university. GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES For this program, the Committee recommends an appropriation of $3,953,500,000, which is $500,000,000 more than the comparable fiscal year 1987 level and $316,647,000 more than the budget request. The House allowance was $4,075,000,000. Grants made under this activity provide financial assistance to local school districts to support supplementary compensatory educational services designed to increase the educational attainment of disadvantaged children to a level appropriate for children of their age. Approximately 90 percent of the Nation's school districts participate in the chapter 1 program. Financial assistance flows to school districts by formula, based on a State's average per pupil expenditure for education and the number of school age children from low-income families. At this level, the Committee estimates that between 5.0 and 5.2 million children would be served with an average Federal contribution of between $760 and $790 per child. The 1988 appropriation for this pro |