Oppose Congressman Obey's "Edujobs" Amendment

STOP THE PRESSES!  Last night Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee David Obey (D-WI) filed an amendment to a supplemental appropriations bill to cut funding for key Obama education reform initiatives to pay for an "education jobs" initiative. The amendment will likely be voted on today or tomorrow.

 

We need your help in getting members to oppose this divisive attempt to pit teacher jobs and salaries against reform efforts that will make sure precious educational resources are spent in a way that ensures all children – regardless of race, country of origin, or zip code – receive a high quality education that prepares them for college and the workforce.

 

The Obey amendment would cut:

 

- $500 million from Race to the Top, bringing the total available for state applications already submitted down from $3.4 billion to $2.9 billion;

 

- $100 million from the Charter Schools Program; and,

 

- $100 million from the Teacher Incentive Fund.

 

Call your Member of Congress via the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 or follow this link:  http://capwiz.com/stand/issues/alert/?alertid=15200821&PROCESS=Take+Action&external_id=10336.-2525218 (I was surprised that it only took a few seconds to send an email) and tell him/her you oppose the Obey amendment, and that you're deeply disappointed that House leaders may put members in the position of having either to vote against teacher jobs and salaries or against efforts to improve the quality of education and expand public school choice for all schoolchildren.

 

Tell them that you oppose this kind of inside-the-beltway gamesmanship that is out of touch with the collaborative efforts underway in your states and communities between parents, advocates, and other stakeholders, including teachers, to improve the quality of our nation's public schools.

 

Below is a statement from The New Teacher Project, a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the achievement gap by ensuring that high-need students get outstanding teachers, that explains well why this amendment is so problematic to our reform efforts:

 

 

 

Statement of The New Teacher Project on Congressman Obey's "Edujobs" Amendment

June 30, 2010

 

We are witnessing a defining moment in education reform.  The past year has been marked by a proliferation of bold new ideas and long-overdue change. Inspired by the Race to the Top competition, education leaders from across the political spectrum came together on a bipartisan, collaborative basis to improve our schools. They passed historic legislation to make teacher evaluations more rigorous and useful. They created ambitious statewide improvement plans that made student academic growth the bottom line. They began the development of new approaches for robust assessments of achievement. In the process, they cleared decades-old legislative logjams and challenged the status quo.

 

The engine behind these incredible achievements was the promise of significant federal funding that would enable states to put their plans into practice. Now, Congress must follow through on its commitment to the educators and policymakers of all political persuasions who have fought for these resources with remarkable courage, conviction and focus.

 

That means declining Congressman David Obey's proposal to strip $800 million of existing funds from the Department of Education's most innovative grant initiatives in order to fund a new bill designed to address job cuts. Reducing teacher layoffs and their impact on students is a commendable goal, but backing out on reform initiatives that promise to modernize the teaching profession and transform the quality of education in our country is not the way to do it. Millions of students nationwide deserve better.

 

States answered the call to step up. Congress must stay true to its word.