Since Congress came back from its Presidents’ Day break last week, NSBA’s advocacy team has swung into full action responding to several major developments in the legislative and executive branches.
NSBA‘s grassroots advocacy called on the Senate last week to pass provisions in the jobs bill to extend fiscal assistance to school districts and states for education. Last Wednesday, the Senate passed the first of a series of measures as part of the jobs package (H.R. 2847). The bill would expand provisions for tax credit bonds, including school bond programs, along with extended funding for transportation programs and targeted business incentives for hiring unemployed workers. NSBA continues to urge members of Congress to pass a final jobs package that includes aid for education, you can act on this issue here.
In the House, the Committee on Education and Labor held the first in a series of hearings on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act addressing charter schools. While some committee members encouraged replicating of high-performing charter schools, others continued to express concerns over the accountability oversight for charter schools, student body makeup, selection process, suspensions and expulsions, mobility and student performance. NSBA‘s submitted a statement of record here.
At the executive level, President Barack Obama announced that he will seek to tie Title I funding eligibility to states developing and adopting college- and career-ready academic standards through either a consortium of states or certification by the higher education community.
While supporting raising academic standards, NSBA issued a statement expressing concerns that this proposal would open the door for the federal government to place even more conditions on local schools and school districts. NSBA Executive Director Anne Bryant said “the irony of this proposal is that it penalizes states that do not follow the administration’s approach by withdrawing Title I funding from the students, schools and school districts that need the support most.”
