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Letter to Members of the Senate HELP Committee on Innovation in Public Schools

April 16, 2010

Dear Senator:


The National Education Association, representing 3.2 million educators across the nation, would like to share with you the enclosed materials in advance of next week’s field hearing on Fostering Innovation in Education being conducted by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Attached for your information and use are:

Additional information about educator-led, union-involved innovative school transformation models is available at www.neapriorityschools.org.

As highlighted in the enclosed documents, NEA believes that achieving world-class schools for every student within the next decade, requires fresh approaches and ideas that produce dramatic leaps in achievement and growth among students, educators and communities.  The federal government must embrace its role as a supporter of local and state initiatives to transform schools, rather than a micro-manager.  Successful, innovative, and autonomous models of public school education already exist.  Such models invariably include deep and mutually beneficial partnerships with government, higher education, parent and community organizations, education unions, and businesses or philanthropic entities.  These models also have produced new and imaginative ways to develop professional development, deliver student instruction and assessments, and offer time for team curricular planning. 

We hope the enclosed materials will be useful to you as Congress moves forward on these critical issues.  Thank you for your attention to this important information.

Sincerely,

Kim Anderson 
Director of Government Relations