This does not necessarily mean that these programs are definitely gone, as this bill is only a stop-gap measure that forestalls government shutdown for two weeks. Once the congress and the president actually pass a bill into law to cover the entire fiscal year, any number of these programs might make it back in. But if this short-tem bill is to be a template for what will ultimately be agreed upon, I’m not sanguine.
I was watching a couple of clips of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show as he defends teachers by satirically attacking them. I was laughing so hard I was almost in tears, which is good for me, because generally I have been terribly angry about attacks on teachers from the press and the legislatures. The blaming and the scapegoating are unlike anything I have ever seen, or anything my parents’ generation has ever seen. My mother, a former first grade teacher who worked for thirty-six years, feels betrayed, and says things are worse than in the late 1970s and early 80s when there were teacher strikes. But Stewart is so on point because he makes it really clear that teachers and education in general are not the source of our societal and financial problems, and that the money we need to stimulate the economy sure isn’t going to come from teachers.
To give an idea of just how skewed things are, think about all the literacy programs eliminated by the four billion dollars that were just cut. By comparison, conservative estimates of the cost of the auto industry and finance industry bailouts place them at about $24 billion and $50 billion, respectively—and that’s after GM and AIG and all the other firms paid back most of their loans. Prior to those payments, our government had loaned out hundreds of billions of dollars to various firms in just those two sectors of the economy. Those firms were deemed too big to fail because of the impact their failure would have on the larger economy, but apparently the education sector of the economy is not too big to fail. (Don’t even get me started on the multi-trillion dollar defense and national security budgets!).
According to the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, which have not yet been amended by the Obama administration, one hundred percent of children must be proficient in reading and math by the year 2014, but apparently we won’t be needing those programs funded by those four billion dollars to help us help the students reach one hundred percent proficiency for all in, well, three years now.
What’s even worse, to me, is that the auto and finance industries were victims of their own mismanagement, and, in some cases, outright corruption and greed. Education has its shortcomings and failings, but programs like the National Writing Project and Reading Is Fundamental have proven records of success, and no scandals. Forty years of free books for kids and twenty years of affordable, quality professional development for teachers, and these programs get cut?
Anyway, as I mentioned above, the fight is not over. This bill only funds the government for two weeks. It ends on the 18th of this month. At that point, we will either have another short-term funding bill or a new budget for FY 11. In the meantime, everyone can and should continue to contact our legislators in both the House and Senate, but especially the Senate, where there is currently more support for education.
The Connecticut delegation has been immensely supportive of the National Writing Project. Every January, site directors have to submit a Continued Funding Application. Then, between the submission of that application and the end of March, beginning of April, we lobby for renewal of our funding, which culminates in what is called the Spring Meeting, when site directors and teacher-consultants head to DC to meet with legislators and lobby for continued funding for the NWP. This year, the Spring Meeting is from March 30 till April 1.
Surely many of you have received my many mailings to the CWP listserv requesting calls and letters to legislators. I know it seems annoying at times, but please know that your calls and letters were very successful. I received phone calls or emails from education aides to Senator Blumenthal, and Representatives Courtney, Himes, Larson, and Murphy expressing support for continued funding for the NWP.
That does not mean we should be complacent because we can assume we have the support of the Connecticut delegation. It is still important to let our legislators know how we feel so that they will feel compelled and inspired to lobby their colleagues from other states, who might not be as supportive as they.
Those of you who support the NWP and want to see funding renewed should call or email our senators and your local representative, preferably before the current short-term bill ends on March 18, but certainly before the Spring Meeting at the end of the month.
Senator Blumenthal’s education aide is Jeremy Bratt. His email is jeremy_bratt@blumenthal.senate.gov and his phone number is 202-224-2823.
Senator Lieberman’s education aide is Rachel Sotsky. Her email is rachel_sotsky@lieberman.senate.gov and her phone number is 202-224-4041.
Representative Larson’s education aide is David Sitcovsky. His email is david.sitcovsky@mail.house.gov and his phone number is 202-225-2265.
Representative Courtney’s education aide is John Hollay. His email is john.hollay@mail.house.gov and his phone number is 202-225-2076.
Representative DeLauro’s education aide is Leticia Mederos. Her email is leticia.mederos@mail.house.gov and her phone number is 202-225-3661.
Representative Himes’ education aide is Rachel Kelly. Her email is rachel.kelly@mail.house.gov and her phone number is 202-225-5541.
Representative Murphy’s education aide is Linda Forman. Her email is linda.forman@mail.house.gov and her phone number is 202-225-4476.
Maybe next week I will write about the crazy hate mail I got earlier this week. That was entertaining!
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