Congress Passes the Torch to New Leadership.

With next month's election of a new Congress, the 104th since the founding of our nation, new leaders will assume major roles that have an impact on public education.

The biggest change will occur in the House of Representatives, where William D. Ford, D-Mich., chair of the Education and Labor Committee, retires after 30 years in Congress. He remained a member of the Education and Labor Committee since his election.

Ford was a part of the "Great Society" years when President Lyndon Johnson and then-Education and Labor Chairman Adam Clayton Powell of New York left us with such landmark social programs as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Head Start, the Higher Education Act, and scores of other programs designed to make life better for all Americans.

Ford has been a superb legislator--someone who knew why certain programs were fashioned in a certain way. Many a hearing or markup of education legislation could be expected to evoke a legislative history session from Chairman Ford, when he felt it was necessary to hold another committee member in check.

Unknown Quantity

Ford leaves his chair to the next ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. William Clay, D-Mo., who represents St. Louis.

Clay, much like an earlier predecessor of his in the chairmanship, former Rep. Augustus Hawkins, D-Calif, traditionally has been identified with labor issues. However, upon his assumption to committee chair, Hawkins became immersed in education and became as strong an advocate for children and their learning as has ever been seen on Capitol Hill.

While Clay is more of an unknown in education, much as Hawkins was, educators would do well to get to know him and share their ideas with him and his staff.

Other changes, which occurred earlier in the year, will become clearer in their outcomes as time progresses. The death of House Appropriations Committee Chairman William Natcher, D-Ky., as strong an advocate on the funding side as Ford and Hawkins were on the authorizing side of education, shook the House to its core.

Natcher, who only last year had taken over the Appropriations Committee chairmanship from an ailing Jamie Whitten, D-Miss., never had missed a House vote in his 41 years of service. The Guinness Book of World Records indicated he had more consecutive votes--more than 18,000--than any other person in a parliament in any country. Even in his dying days, Natcher asked to be taken by ambulance to the Capitol, so he could cast his final votes. He died shortly thereafter.

Good Hands

With the passing of Natcher, a contest began over who would succeed him as head of the appropriations panel. The next senior Democrat, Rep. Neal Smith, D-Iowa, was the logical choice. However, in a spirited struggle, he lost to a younger, fourth-ranking committee member, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis. Obey is aggressive in action and progressive in spirit. He is expected to use the Appropriations Committee as an even stronger voice in Congress than his predecessors.

Succeeding Natcher as chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education--a post the late chairman also held--will be Smith, a strong supporter of public education.

AASA feels confident that the interests of the nation's young people and our unique system of locally controlled public education will remain in good hands in the forthcoming Congress. But it is still our responsibility as educational leaders to make certain our elected representatives know what is taking place back home in their schools, so they can be in a position to make wise decisions on education in the years ahead.