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http://congress.nw.dc.us/c-span/elecmail.html
NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
***LEGISLATIVE ALERT***
September 14, 1998
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Today's Topics
1. Oppose Block Grant Bill Now
2. Education Appropriations Bills Update
3. Controversial Bilingual Ed Bill Appears Dead
4. Third Year of Record School Enrollment
______________________________
Register Your Opposition to the Pitts Block Grant Bill
On Friday, September 18, the House is expected to
debate The Dollars to the Classroom Act (HR 3248),
which proposes to combine $2.74 billion in funding for
31 separate federal education programs, including the
Eisenhower Professional Development Program, into a
single block grant to states. States would be free to
use the money for whatever purposes they chose.
A vote for the block grant approach is a vote against
the use of federal education funds for targeted
purposes, such as professional development.
If passed by the House, this bill (also referred to as
the Pitts bill for Representative Joe Pitts, R-PA, who
introduced it) would set a dangerous precedent. This
is because the next Congress is responsible for
reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA), which includes Eisenhower and many other
K-12 programs. (Reauthorizing ESEA is mandatory every
four years.) House passage of the Dollars to the
Classroom/Pitts bill now would help propel the argument
for the block grant approach at a time when discussions
on reauthorizing ESEA are beginning.
For this reason, it is important to let your
representative know that you oppose the Dollars to the
Classroom Act and any attempt to block grant federal
education funding. Explain why you support targeted
funding for professional development through the
Eisenhower Professional Development Program.
Register your opinion now---by whichever method you
choose:
By phone:
Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask to
be connected to your representative's office.
By e-mail: Through the C-SPAN service (you can look up
the name of your representative) at
http://congress.nw.dc.us/c-span/elecmail.html
NOTE: With e-mail, be sure to include your
home address to indicate you are a constituent.
By mail:
The Honorable (full name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative (last name):
Other programs that would lose targeted funding through
the Dollars to the Classroom bill include the
Eisenhower Math and Science Regional Consortia, Goals
2000, School to Work, Technology Literacy Challenge
Fund, Technology Innovation Grants, Regional Technology
Consortia, Star Schools, Magnet Schools, Title VI,
Gifted and Talented Education, 21st Century Community
Learning Centers, Education for Homeless Children, and
more.
NSTA, along with more than a dozen other education
associations "representing millions of parents,
teachers, students, principals, administrators, and
other education advocates," signed a joint letter to
the House of Representatives opposing the Pitts bill.
In part, the letter states, "HR 3248 would undo thirty
years of strong bipartisan Congressional support for
vital federal education programs which have targeted
national interests, the special needs of students in
the classroom, and schools' overall capacity to provide
quality educational services.... [T]here is no need for
the massive and arbitrary overhaul of federal education
programs proposed in this bill."
BUT DON'T FORGET:
Your representative will listen to YOU as a voter more
than to national associations outside his/her
district.
____________________________
Education Appropriations Bills Yet To Reach Floor
As it stands now...
In the House, the Labor-HHS-Education bill (HR 4274)
was cleared by the House Appropriations Committee on
July 14 for floor vote. The Senate's bill was cleared
on September 3. The two bills differ.
While the Senate bill (S 2440) would level fund the
Eisenhower Professional Development program at $335
million, the House bill not only lowers funding to $285
million, but pools funding for the Eisenhower program,
Goals 2000, and Title VI into a block grant.
The House bill may reach the floor this Wednesday,
September 16, but a provision requiring parental
notification for teenagers seeking contraceptives from
federal family planning agencies threatens to slow its
passage. If this occurs, the bill could be withdrawn
from the floor.
The Senate bill could also reach the floor this week,
though again, that is uncertain. Once again, debate on
controversial amendments could stall the bill.
Even if both bills by some chance pass, the differences
between them would have to be ironed out by a
conference committee before the final bill could go to
the President.
There is little time left in this session of Congress.
Adjournment is scheduled for October 9 because of the
November elections (the entire House and one-third of
the Senate is on the ballot). So it is possible that
the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill could be
"rolled together" with any other appropriations bill
that has not been debated and agreed on by the House,
Senate, and White House into what is known as a
continuing resolution. The effect of this would be to
level fund all programs in these bills for as long as
the continuing resolution (or CR) stipulates.
When we learn more about the movement of the House
and Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills,
we will let you know.
__________________________________
Controversial Bilingual Ed Bill Appears Dead
By a vote of 230 to 184, the House last week passed HR
3892, a bill that would convert bilingual and immigrant
education programs into block grants to the states.
Among other things, the bill would require students to
be transferred within two years to classrooms that do
not solely tailor instruction for bilingual students.
States would be prohibited from using funds to teach
children who have been enrolled in a bilingual program
for more than three years.
Because of the threat by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) to
filibuster the bill in the Senate, the measure appears
dead for this session of Congress.
________________________________
Third Year of Record School Enrollment
According to the Department of Education, total public
and private school enrollment this fall will be a
record 52.7 million, which surpasses last fall's all
time high by 500,000. New records are expected to set
for at least the next eight years. By 2008, it is
projected that 54.3 million students will be attending
elementary and secondary schools.
This year marks another all-time high for total college
enrollment, which increased to a record 14.6 million,
up from 14.3 million in 1997 -- an increase of
approximately 240,000 students.
According to the Department's estimates, the greatest
number of additional students over the next 10 years
will be concentrated in grades 9-12.
*******************************************************
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Ann Wild
Director, Legislative and Public Affairs
National Science Teachers Association
1840 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
ann.wild@nsta.org
703/312-9247 (phone) 703/243-7177 (FAX)