Please help us make a ruckus on Twitter! Tell the @EdWorkforce Committee that you will not be silent while they rewrite legislation that impacts students and schools, and that you want to see real changes in their NCLB reauthorization bill!
If there is anything we know, it is that public education allies dominate Twitter. Tonight and tomorrow we must flood Twitter with messages directly to the Education and Workforce Committee – @EdWorkforce.
Here are some sample tweets you can use:
TESTING
- #EndAnnualTesting! It narrows curriculum, encourages teaching to the test & kills the love of learning! @EdWorkforce #NCLBrewriteisWRONG
- We must #EndAnnualTesting & focus on the real needs of the 50% of US students living in poverty @EdWorkforce #NCLBrewriteisWRONG
CHARTERS
- Federal funds should support PUBLIC SCHOOLS, not the opening and expansion of more for profit CMOs! @EdWorkforce #NCLBrewriteisWRONG
- Further federal investment in charter schools will erode the democratic institution of public education @EdWorkforce #NCLBrewriteisWRONG
TITLE I PORTABILITY
- Title I funds for vulnerable students MUST stay in public schools. Title I portability = vouchers! @EdWorkforce #NCLBrewriteisWRONG
- Title I money should stay in public schools for vulnerable students, not used to support school choice! @EdWorkforce #NCLBrewriteisWRONG
Some Background
The NCLB reauthorization process is moving quickly. Both the Senate and the House have released draft bills, but they have gone about the process quite differently.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a discussion draft of their NCLB reauthorization legislation on January 13, 2015. The Committee held a series of three hearings, and created an email address to solicit input from the public. NPE created a letter writing campaign to the HELP Committee to #EndAnnualTesting, and over 2,400 NPE allies responded.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce released their draft NCLB legislation on February 3rd, but there have been no hearings, and no public input has been solicited. Tomorrow the Committee has scheduled a “markup” of the draft, only a week after releasing the bill, and with no input from the public.
One grassroots group of New Jersey parents, Save Our Schools NJ, had their members send emails to their representatives in Washington, as well as to Congressional staffers in the Senate HELP Committee and the House Ed and Workforce Committee. Staffers reported to EdWeek that they were irked that the over 1,800 emails sent from concerned NJ parents crashed their Blackberries.
“This is bullying,” the aide said. “We’re trying to be really thoughtful on a range of issues, including assessments, in a really short time frame. We’re doing the absolute best we can. And this makes it even harder.”
Why doesn’t the US House of Representatives want to hear from parents as they rewrite the law that will impact students and schools across the country? There are some real problems with this bill, including a mandate that states continue to administer annual standardized tests, increased funding to support the growth and expansion of charter schools, and increased portability of Title I funds intended to serve our nation’s most vulnerable children.
If the House won’t hold hearings and hasn’t provided the public with a way to contact them about these concerns, how can we make our voices heard?
Social media, that’s how.
Please join our Twitter campaign and tell the @EdWorkforce Committee that their #NCLBrewriteisWRONG!
