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Block Grants - a blank check with no accountability and no guaranteed funding for class size reduction, professional development, and urgent school building repairs. Governors would control where the money is spent.
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"Portability" - Students in low-performing schools could use Title I funds as vouchers to enroll in private or parochial schools.
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Community-based after-school programs - After-school learning programs (21st Century Learning Centers) could become community-based, rather than school-based. School-based programs, focused on quality academic activities, give students a higher achievement in reading and math and a greater chance for academic promotion.
- Murray amendment for class size reduction;
- Kennedy amendment for quality professional development;
- Harkin amendment for emergency school repairs; and
- School-based 21st Century Learning Centers.
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Send a message to your U.S. Senators: [http://www.nea.org/lac]
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Vote YES on real education reform with resources that help all children succeed.
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Vote NO on block grants and bad policies that take away federal dollars from students and schools in need.
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- Supporting the bipartisan Johnson-Rangel School Construction bill, H.R.4094;
- Opposing Education Savings Accounts [ESAs] that are K-12 private tuition tax subsidies;
- Supporting education program funding that guarantees help to children, and opposing block grants.
Federal Legislative Update Archives
April 2000
Federal Legislative Update Archives
April 2000
Federal Legislative Update Archives
April 2000
April 28,
2000
April
14, 2000
April 7,
2000
04/28/00
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News from Capitol Hill...
ESEA
Blank Checks and Other Bad Public Policies
S. 2, the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bill,
jeopardizes services that give all children the opportunity to reach
their potential. The Senate debate begins May 1 and continues for at
least a week.
Fifteen-Minute Activist [www.nea.org/lac/esea]
Help
Congress "get real" with YOUR stories about the need for smaller
classes, modern, safe schools, and after-school programs, not blank
checks with no guarantee of the help children need. From a third-year
teacher: "I teach kindergarten. An estimated 70 percent of "my kids"
need special services. I cannot get help for them. I am frustrated, but
the kids are the ones who suffer." Another: "Our middle school was
condemned 30 years ago, but is still being used!"
Tell your story NOW, while the Senate debate is underway. Urge your Senators to OPPOSE S.2 in its current form, and to SUPPORT programs that help all children succeed:
SCHOOL MODERNIZATION
School Building Day - 2000
Building professionals, the
Council for Education Facility Planners International (CEFPI), held
School Building Day events today (April 28) to focus attention on the
importance of the school building in supporting student achievement.
NEA urges all House members to join Representatives Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Charles Rangel (D-NY) as cosponsors and to press the House Leadership for a vote on the America's Better Classrooms Act (H.R. 4094). This bipartisan effort can provide safe, modern schools for all children. See the current cosponsors list at www.nea.org/lac/modern.
SAFETY
Sensible Gun Safety Laws - No Excuses; No Delays!
The
House- and Senate-passed juvenile justice bills have been bottled up in
conference committee for months. Now grassroots America is sending a
message to Capitol Hill: "Pass sensible gun-safety legislation NOW. No
excuses! No delays!!!" Moms and dads, families and friends, will rally
on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Mother’s Day, May 14 to
support common-sense gun laws. Thousands more will participate in
similar activities in their local communities.
NEA is encouraging members to take part in the "Million Mom March" activities. State and local affiliates are working to bring members to the Mall, and NEA headquarters will serve as the convening point prior to the March. Information on local march sites and contacts can be found at http://www.millionmommarch.com/.
CENSUS 2000
Making Children Count
Door knocking and telephone calling
of people who did not mail back their Census 2000 questionnaires has
begun. The follow-up continues through July 7.
Funds for programs critical to providing all our children smaller classes, modern school buildings, and a qualified teacher in every classroom depend upon an accurate count. A full 52% of the net undercount in 1990 were children. Hartford (CT), school officials estimated that each non-response cost the city up to $40,000 over the last ten years. "We lost hundreds of teachers."
Census enumerators carry official badges so that they can be clearly identified. Spread the word about the importance of being counted. It means classrooms and teachers and resources children need to succeed.
| NOTE: | The Senate returned from spring break on April 24. The House returns on May 1. |
04/14/00
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ESEA
-- Fifteen-Minute Activist
Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is underway in the U.S. Senate. The Senate bill, S.2, rolls dollars for local school district programs into block grants spent by governors and turns Title I into a voucher program. The Senate is expected to start debate as early as May 1.
-- Blank Checks and Bad Public Policy
That describes the Congressional Leadership’s misguided insistence on sending education funding to the states as large, unfocused block grants that threaten services for disadvantaged children in the neediest school districts. The Leadership has seized upon the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to press its agenda.
ESEA programs target resources to what we know works for children: qualified, well-trained teachers; smaller classes where every child can receive individual attention; and safe, modern schools. What we know does not work for children are block grants that give states a blank check with no accountability and no guarantee of services for our neediest students in the poorest districts; and vouchers (by whatever name – portability, transferability, scholarships, etc.) that take money away from public schools.
ESEA reflects our national commitment to help every child succeed. High standards built into ESEA programs, and resources targeted to our neediest children give all children the opportunity to reach their potential. Make sure Congress does the right thing to help every child succeed. Make your voice heard NOW!
-- House Committee Rejects Vouchers
IS YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ON THE TEAM?
MOMENTUM
BUILDING FOR MODERN SCHOOLS
The bipartisan sponsors of H.R. 4094, America's Better Classrooms Act, now total 149 and the number grows daily. The bill, cosponsored by Representative Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY), gives states and local communities access to interest-free bonds for school repair and construction. Momentum is building to force the Leadership to allow a House vote. NEA is urging all House members to cosponsor this bipartisan effort to help students in aging and overcrowded schools. Has your Representative joined the team? See the growing list of current cosponsors at www.nea.org/lac/modern.
MORE RUMBLINGS ON GUN SAFETY
Rumblings in the House and Senate continue. The House, by a 358-60 majority, passed legislation instituting nationwide Project Exile. The program would require mandatory sentences for convictions involving firearms.
While Project Exile had wide bipartisan support, House members continued to press safety. Members approved 406-22 a motion instructing juvenile justice bill conference committee members to meet and craft a substitute bill that includes gun safety law enforcement and gun safety measures that prevent felons, fugitives and stalkers from obtaining firearms and children from gaining access to guns.
"GUEST WORKERS" FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
Proposals in both the House and Senate would invite an unlimited number of foreign skilled workers at institutions of higher education. The proposals would remove the H-1B visa cap without either documenting the need or assessing the impact on current college and university staff and students. Further, the H-1B visa program provides no path to citizenship. NEA opposes proposals to remove all limits without Congressional oversight committee hearings.
Congress has options to address the increasing demand for information technology workers. A limited "set aside" has enabled colleges and universities to recruit foreign staff. This continues to be an option.
Action! Higher education members should contact their Representatives and Senators to urge support for a reasonable "set-aside," but not a removal of the H-1B visa cap, while increasing math and science education opportunities for American citizens.
| NOTE: | The Senate is in recess from April 14 - April 24; the House, April 14-May 1. |
04/07/00
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BLOCK GRANTS, BLANK CHECKS, BAD PUBLIC POLICY
That sums up H.R. 4141, the "Education OPTIONS" bill, now before the House Education and Workforce Committee. The bill is the last of a four-bill series reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). In fact, the Leadership's agenda effectively unravels ESEA.
ESEA is the landmark legislation that guarantees services to children needing extra help. ESEA programs provide help in the form of Title I reading and math programs, class size reduction, reading initiatives, after-school programs, safe and drug-free schools, teacher professional development, and more.
H.R. 4141, in combination with the "Teacher Empowerment Act," H.R.1995 and the "Straight A's" bill, H.R. 2300, -- ESEA bills already approved by the House -- turns virtually all programs into interchangeable block grants ("transferability"). Block grants offer no guarantee that the funds will be used to improve student achievement, especially for students with the greatest needs. The committee rejected Representative William Clay's (MO) amendments for school modernization and class size reduction, and - despite ESEA's school safety provisions - invoked a Point of Order to rebuff Representative Carolyn McCarthy's (NY) gun safety amendment.
The committee has a clear choice: to guarantee services to children or to write a blank check to the states. NEA urged the committee to choose children. Committee action on the bill continues next week. www.nea.org/lac/esea
MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR BIPARTISAN SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BILL
Momentum is building in support of the bipartisan America's Better Classrooms Act, H.R. 4094, cosponsored by Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Representative Nancy Johnson (R-CT). The bill gives states and local communities access to $25 billion in interest-free bonds for school repair and construction. Faced with a demand to spend monies on school construction that helps students in aging and overcrowded schools, rather than on tax subsidies for K-12 private school tuition, the Leadership pulled the tax bill from the current calendar.
NEA is urging all House members to cosponsor this bipartisan compromise. See the growing list of current cosponsors of H.R. 4094: www.nea.org/lac/modern
RUMBLINGS ON GUN SAFETY
Rumblings in the House and Senate signal growing support to act on the juvenile justice bills bottled up for months in conference committee.
STRONG ECONOMY BOLSTERS SOCIAL SECURITY
The annual report released by the Social Security and Medicare Trustees on March 30 brought good news on the fiscal health of Social Security. For the third consecutive year, the report shows a reduction in the projected long-range deficit. The report further extended Social Security’s solvency to the year 2037. Advocates for Social Security and Medicare called the report a “powerful rebuttal” to privatization enthusiasts who falsely predict Social Security’s imminent collapse. [Note: An NEA virtual symposium, April 10-24, will detail the pros and cons of Social Security privatization. This online gathering offers the chance to dialogue with Social Security and senior policy experts. Register now at www.nea.org/socialsecurity]
HOUSING HELP AND TEACHER RECRUITMENT
The Neighborhood Teacher Program passed the House on Thursday, April 6, as a provision of the American Home Ownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000, H.R. 1776. The program provides home ownership incentives to bring teachers into the neighborhoods where they teach.
Record enrollments in public schools and the projected retirements of thousands of veteran teachers are creating a significant shortage of qualified teachers. In certain rural and urban areas, the teacher shortage is particularly acute. Teacher recruitment efforts would receive a significant boost from home ownership incentives such as those offered by the Neighborhood Teacher Program. NEA president Bob Chase applauded Republican Congressmen James A. Leach (IA) and Rick Lazio (NY) for their leadership in proposing the program.
NEA ON HIGH STAKES TESTING: KEEP THE FOCUS ON CHIDLREN!
NEA, the National PTA, and the American Association of School Administrators are among the education groups supporting Senator Paul Wellstone's (MN) efforts to stop the use of a single test to determine graduation, grade advancement and other high-stakes decisions. Wellstone plans to propose an amendment when the Senate takes up ESEA reauthorization. Loudoun (VA) Education Association president Kelly Burk, speaking on behalf of NEA, noted teachers' concerns about the impact of such testing on day-to-day classroom learning. "Such testing stifles creativity, impacts the ability of teachers to meet the unique needs of individual students, and provides an incomplete - and perhaps inaccurate - picture of students' knowledge and skills," she said.
FIFTEEN-MINUTE ACTIVIST [www.nea.org/lac]
Urge your U.S. Representative to invest in children by
