NEA Leader Urges President to 'Work with Congress'

NEA Executive Committee member Marsha Smith said at a Capitol Hill news conference that President Bush's threatened veto of an education funding bill under consideration by the Senate "undermines the public's support for investing in our children and America's future."

The Senate is considering a spending bill that funds critical education, health care and labor programs for the next fiscal year. Education programs include Head Start, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- otherwise known as No Child Left Behind -- and Pell Grants, among others. President Bush has promised to veto the measure.

Smith urged President Bush to work with Congress to pass a sensible and responsible spending bill that invests in children and public education.

Smith is a veteran middle school health and physical education teacher from Rockville, Md. She said that in her own state of Maryland the Senate bill would allow 500 additional children to participate in Head Start, 4,400 more students to receive federal funds for special education programs, and 28,000 students to receive career training.

The President's proposed budget would reduce Head Start by $100 million, cutting slots for 30,000 children. His plan also would cut $1 billion in job training funds, 50 percent of career and technical education programs, and slash $291 million from special education for children with disabilities. The Senate aims to restore $1.5 billion in cuts proposed by President Bush, while adding $2.6 billion to further provide educators and students with the tools to succeed.

For more information, read NEA's news release. And you can send your own message on education funding to your elected representatives in Washington.

October 2007