Federal Legislative Update
September 2005

September 30, 2005
September 23, 2005
September 12, 2005

09/30/05

News from Capitol Hill...

Education Department Grants Hurricane Waiver for Schools

Tell Congress More Flexibility Needed

In a major concession to mounting pressure from NEA cyberlobbyists, hurricane-ravaged states and school districts, the U.S. Department of Education announced September 29 that schools and districts severely damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will receive automatic waivers for the school year from sanctions under No Child Left Behind testing mandates, formally known as Adequate Yearly Progress, while others will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

While the flexibility is welcome, more waivers, extensions and relief are needed to meet the pressing needs of all teachers, education support professionals, students and schools affected by the hurricanes, including schools taking in displaced students.

Among the additional concerns are the end-of-the-year deadline for meeting "highly qualified" status by teachers and paraprofessionals; attempts to promote private school vouchers; and the need for money for school repair and construction.

Action Needed

Tell your Senators and Representative to provide flexibility, waivers and relief to all the students, educators and schools impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Urge them to

• Oppose vouchers,
• Support an extension of No Child Left Behind's "highly qualified" requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals, and
• Provide money urgently needed for school repair and construction.

E-Rate Scores Big Senate Victory

Thanks to your e-mails and those of educators and librarians nationwide, schools and libraries cleared a major hurdle September 15 in ensuring that they will continue to receive funding for Internet service and advanced telecommunication services. In the bill to fund the Commerce, Justice and State departments, passed by the Senate by a 91-4 vote, is a provision to keep E-Rate funds flowing to schools and libraries until December 31, 2006.

The bill must now go through a yet-to-be scheduled conference to reconcile differences with the House's version of the bill. The provision has strong bipartisan support by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Daniel Inouye (D-HI).

Prior to passage of the E-Rate program in 1996, only 3 percent of the nation's classrooms were connected to the Internet. Today, 92 percent of classrooms are connected.

House OKs Bill Allowing Head Start Religious Discrimination

Head Start centers run by churches and religious organizations will be able to hire and fire teachers, staff and parent volunteers based on their personal religious views, following passage September 22 of an amendment to the Head Start reauthorization bill. The House voted, 220-196, to repeal the 33-year-old anti-discrimination protections. The overall bill passed by a vote of 231-184.

The vote, largely along contentious partisan lines, puts at jeopardy the jobs of countless Head Start teachers, staff and parents employed in Head Start centers operated by religious organizations. NEA and other opponents of the amendment argued that it was unnecessary because churches have run Head Start centers for decades. The amendment also threatens one of the pillars of Head Start's success: parental involvement.

The Senate bill does not contain language that would repeal the anti-discrimination protections. No date has been set for conference to reconcile differences between the bills.

09/23/05
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News from Capitol Hill...

Act Now on Hurricane Relief for Students

As this alert went to press, Congress was furiously working to develop a relief package for students and schools devastated by Hurricane Katrina. NEA continues to meet and work with Members of Congress to ensure that any federal money that is allocated for school supplies, instructional services, school construction, counseling, textbooks and other essential needs flow through public school districts for the benefit of every affected student. At the same time, NEA, with your much-needed help, will continue to insist that private school vouchers are unnecessary and ineffective.

NEA President Reg Weaver, in a statement, spoke against vouchers:

"At this time, the most urgent need is to restore a sense of normalcy for the more than 300,000 students displaced by the storm… We should be focusing our efforts on meeting the needs of these students, not opening up a debate on vouchers.”

Action Needed

Tell your Senators and Representative to ensure that all federal money to help students and schools ravaged by Hurricane Katrina flows through local public school districts. Tell them to oppose private school vouchers as part of any federal government hurricane relief effort for students and schools.

09/12/05
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News from Capitol Hill...

NEA Mobilizes Against Hurricane Katrina

NEA has distributed to Congress and the U.S. Department of Education a series of legislative and administrative actions to help students, teachers, education support professionals and public schools reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In a September 1 letter to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, NEA President Reg Weaver wrote:

"I believe it would be prudent if, in these extraordinary times, the Department of Education also considers how this situation will impact the many teachers and school employees in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida where the hurricane hit, as well as the schools in Texas and other areas where the new students will be attending. In addition to the personal impact of the hurricane on them and their families, our members are concerned about the implications of No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements on their students and schools. Until these children, their teachers, districts and families gain their footing under these extremely difficult circumstances, I encourage you to implement the provisions in NCLB that deal with the impact of natural disasters on testing and AYP."

The letter goes on to request similar relief and flexibility for states and schools accepting and receiving displaced students, as well as for affected teachers and education support professionals who have been preparing to meet NCLB's "highly qualified" requirements.

NEA has taken a number of steps to help the hurricane victims. Among these:

• Raise $1 million to go directly to affected students, teachers and school employees.
• Establish an e-mail address (katrinarelief@nea.org) and a toll-free number (1-866-247-2239) to gather information on needs and to take contributions for schools that need help.
• Provide other online resources, such as those from the National Association of School Psychologists and the U.S. Department of Education.

For the latest information on what NEA is doing and how you can help, go to www.nea.org/katrina/index.html.

Urge Your Senators, Representative To Protect
the E-Rate

NEA held briefings for Senate and House staff Friday, September 9, on the need to protect the E-Rate program, which, despite its overwhelming success in connecting our nation's schools and classrooms to the Internet, might be forced to stop payment to schools because of arcane accounting rules.

A one-year exemption from the accounting rule is set to expire at the end of this year. S. 241 and H.R. 2533, introduced by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Representatives Barbara Cubin (R-WY) and Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), would exempt the E-Rate from these rules and allow payments to continue flowing to schools and libraries.

Action Needed

Urge your Senators and Representative to protect the E-Rate by sponsoring S. 241 and H.R. 2533.