Dear Congressman:
We are writing to urge you to vote against an amendment being offered today to the supplemental appropriations bill by Congressman David Obey to fund a new “Edujobs” program by using offsets from key Obama Administration reform initiatives that are working in our states and communities, with strong support from elected officials of both political parties and a broad spectrum of stakeholders,to affect real changes in school systems that are benefiting students and offering new hope to parents.
The amendment as constructed is unnecessarily divisive and, in the final analysis, counterproductive. Members of Congress should not be forced to have a vote for teacher jobs and salaries yoked to cuts to reforms that will ensure that precious educational resources are spent to give all children – regardless of race, country of origin, or zip code – a high quality education that prepares them for college and the workforce.
Yesterday, Assistant Secretary of Education, Peter Cunningham, said “If Congress is determined to find offsets, we will help them do that, but these are not the right ones.” We urge Congressman Obey and the Congressional Leadership to go back to the drawing board and work with the Administration on a bill that saves jobs without gutting equally important education reforms.
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,
– $200 million from the Teacher Incentive Fund.
The federal government must keep its promise to states like New York, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Colorado, that each undertook bold education reforms with the understanding that they would qualify for the resources needed to pay for them. It must think of the 6,000 jobs in the public charter school sector alone that could be at risk if Congress makes the 40% cut to charter schools that the Obey amendment entails.
The American public is looking for leadership on education, and collaboration between elected officials that reflects and supports the extraordinary work stakeholders are undertaking together at the state and local level. They are certainly not looking for a surprise turnaround of federal policy that undermines their efforts.
Please vote against the Obey amendment and work with your colleagues across ideological and party lines to craft an alternative that does not stop real and important changes in our nation’s public school system just as they are beginning to show promise in improving the quality in education for ALL our nation’s schoolchildren, especially those who historically have been so woefully and unjustly shortchanged.
Sincerely,
Achievement First
Advance Illinois
City Peace Foundation, Sondra Samuels, President
Civic Builders
Chalkboard Project, Sue Hildick, President
ConnCAN
Democrats for Education Reform
Education Equality Project
Education Reform Now
The Education Trust
The Education Trust West, Arun Ramanathan, Executive Director
Foundation for Excellence in Education
Harlem Success Academy
Hope Street Group
KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program)
KIPP Minnesota, Suzanne Tacheny Kubach, PhD, Board Chair and Mark Chronister,
Vice Chair
League of Education Voters
Mass Insight Education
The Mind Trust
National Alliance of Public Charter Schools
National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
New Schools Venture Fund, Ted Mitchell, CEO
The New Teacher Project
Rodel Foundation of Delaware
Stand for Children
Texas Institute for Education Reform