Wednesday afternoon brought word from Washington of an oh-so-close deal on the proposed economic stimulus package.
Hold your horses.
While the House of Representatives and Senate reached a general agreement on the terms of the bill in the early evening, differences remained over the inclusion of $10 billion of added support for the nation's schools.
Specifically, members of the House were concerned over a portion of the package designated for the construction and renovation of public schools.
Even though the Senate's version of the bill included the same monetary funds, the House's legislation would have provided the financial support much sooner and explicitly for schools with the most need.
In a late-breaking announcement on Wednesday, both the House and Senate agreed on a final bill to present to President Barack Obama for his signature - sans funding for school construction.
The Editorial Board is pleased to hear that a deal is finally in place - bound to help remedy the country's economic situation. But we are disappointed that the House's attempts to keep language in the bill regarding assistance for construction on schools fell through.
Sadly, under the latest version of the legislation, those rat-infested, asbestos-ridden schools of America lost out on a second chance.
At least Obama will most likely meet his goal of signing the bill into legislation on President's Day - at the expense of education.
