Critics fault academy earmark

WASHINGTON -- Former tennis star Andre Agassi and the Las Vegas charter school that bears his name have been dropped into the middle of a fight in Congress over federal spending and earmarks.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif, served notice on Tuesday that he will try to strip $200,000 set aside in a spending bill for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy.

The money was added to a labor and education bill by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. But Campbell questioned whether the Las Vegas school associated with such celebrity should be singled out for special treatment.

"I don't think it is appropriate to use hardworking taxpayer funds to make a donation to a charity, particularly one so closely connected to one of the richest young people in America," Campbell said.

"If this entity needs another $200,000, I would think Mr. Agassi could probably spare that more than the taxpayers," Campbell said.

Campbell, who represents part of Orange County, said his amendment to delete the funding could be debated this week.

Conservative bloggers seized on the Agassi line item after it was spotlighted by conservative House Republicans.

"Although Agassi was known during his playing days for his soft touch and accuracy, this action seems to be a fault," wrote Joelle Cannon of the Republican Study Committee.

Berkley on Tuesday prepared to defend the earmark, which she arranged with school officials. The funds would be directed toward technology curriculum and training at the school.

Berkley said Campbell's description of the Las Vegas charter school as a "charity" suggested he didn't know what he was talking about.

"This is just a game he is playing," Berkley said. "It is outrageous that a congressman from California who has never been to the Agassi school would have the audacity to attempt to eliminate funding to support disadvantaged kids."

Berkley said, "There is nothing wrong with earmarks," which are directives from Congress that federal agencies should set aside specific funding as lawmakers dictate.

In fast-growing cities like Las Vegas, Berkley said, federal grants doled by government agencies don't come close to matching local needs.

"There are not enough grants in the world to be able to pay for all the needs in our education system," Berkley said. "Andre Agassi has generously donated huge sums of money to his school. It is not his responsibility to shoulder this burden by himself."

Earmarks should be scrutinized, said Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. But he said he plans to defend the Las Vegas spending.

"Each project should stand on its own," Porter said. "This one, I will support."

Critics say earmarks pervert the system, with decisions about who to fund and how much determined by lawmaker clout rather than merit.

"At this point, the earmark process stinks," Campbell said. "This is a process that needs to be reformed or eliminated."

The charter school that bears Agassi's name was established in 2001 at 1201 W. Lake Mead Boulevard, in a low income part of Las Vegas.

It has drawn praise as a model school aimed at improving educational opportunities for at-risk students.

"There is no doubt there are (earmarks) that are far worse than this, and others that are equally as bad," Campbell said. "This is simply to shine a light on this one."

Campbell is a member of the Republican Study Committee, the coalition of House conservatives who have crusaded to raise awareness against excessive spending and earmarks as wasteful "pork barrel."

A handful of coalition activists like Campbell, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, target a variety of local projects in spending bills that come before the House, seeking to hold them up for ridicule.

But in all but one instance this year, amendments to delete the earmarks have failed, according to watchdog groups.

The exception was when Democrats agreed to kill a $129,000 earmark to promote tourism in Mitchell County, N.C., represented by conservative Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry.

The Agassi school was built and maintained with federal and state funds and private donations.

But the bulk of support has come through fundraising by Agassi, whose foundation borrowed to build the $40 million project and has guaranteed repayment of the debt, said Perry Rogers, his longtime friend and president of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation.

Agassi is in Europe this week and wasn't available to comment, said Rob Powers, foundation communications director.

Rogers said the former tennis star makes no apologies for his efforts on the school's behalf.

Agassi "writes a check" for more than $3 million each year to make up the difference between the $5,200 in state funding it receives for each of its 540 students and the national average spending of $9,000 per student, Rogers said.

"We are a great school," Rogers said. "In all honesty, what is so upsetting about these things is that we are there on the front lines and someone is going to be making this an issue because the name Andre Agassi sells."