Transcript Slide 1

Advocacy in Action: Preparing for
the National Leaders Conference
Background and Briefing Webinar
February 7, 2013
Scheduling Your Capitol Hill Visits
Try to schedule at least three meetings -- with your
Member of Congress and two Senators, but do not
overlook those from your state on key committees.
Coordinate with others from your state
After meetings are scheduled, complete appointment
form on NAESP’s website:
https://www.naesp.org/content/2013-nlccongressional-appointments-form
Preparing for Discussion on Capitol Hill
Federal Update
•
•
•
•
New Session of Congress
Political Landscape
ESEA Reauthorization
Budget and Sequestration
Political Landscape
• 92 new Members of Congress sworn in.
• Committee Chairman of the Senate and
House Education Committees remain the
same, except for House K-12
Subcommittee.
• An exclusive focus on deficit reduction
appears to have crowded out policies
devoted to education reform or job
creation.
ESEA Reauthorization
• Remind Congress that they must reauthorize
ESEA. State Flexibility Waivers from ED are not
a 50-state solution, and pit states against one
another to compete.
• Comprehensive K-12 legislation is needed to
ensure an equitable education for all students.
• House and Senate have starting points on ESEA
to pick up from that are not that far apart.
•
•
•
•
Making the Case to Build the Capacity of Principals
The current punitive accountability system under NCLB must
be removed for all states. Waiver differentiated accountability
systems still have NCLB-era “gap” labels and rely on
standardized tests.
34 states and DC have taken up the Administration’s State
Flexibility Waivers. The new reforms have put unprecedented
demands on principals without any support for their capacity.
State and districts must be required to provide professional
development for principals.
An estimated 3% of $2.5 billion in federal funds allocated for
professional development for teachers and principals is
actually spent on principals.
Framework and Guiding Principles for Policy Recommendations
1) Providing greater recognition of the role of principals in federal
education laws and professional development for principals on the
standards of practice.
2) Requiring states and districts to provide professional development
opportunities for principals on education reform areas.
3) Establishing accountability systems that include student growth in the
multiple ways in which students learn to avoid overuse of standardized
assessment scores as the sole or primary criterion to measure student
performance; to rate, grade or rank principal, teacher, or school
effectiveness; to allocate funds; or to take punitive measures against
schools and/or school personnel.
Framework and Guiding Principles for Policy Recommendations
4) Ensuring that any federal role in principal evaluation will urge
states to provide fair and objective principal evaluation systems.
Evaluation systems must eliminate any narrow policies on
principal evaluation that are limited to student growth and
achievement that may omit consideration of contextual issues
and how a principal meets the immediate needs of a school,
the unique challenges of the learning community, and the
level of authority afforded to an individual principal to make
improvements.
5) Holding principal preparation programs to high standards.
6) Including federal support for standards-based certification,
induction programs, especially for early career principals.
7) Investing in identifying and retaining effective principals.
8) Strengthening P-3 alignment policies that will help principals
connect early childhood with K-12 education, and provide
professional development opportunities for principals to develop
strategies to support a continuum of learning, including strong
literacy instruction, beginning in the earliest grades.
ESEA Reauthorization Legislative Priorities
• Principal Recruitment and Training Act (FrankenDavis)
• Legislation to Improve Principal Evaluation
Systems
March Budget Madness
• Current FY 2013 funding bill expires on March 27
– Congress expected to pass budget extension by March 27 to
avoid government shutdown, extending current spending
levels through end of FY 2013.
– Could use opportunity to alter some funding levels.
• Sequestration scheduled to begin March 1, following
two-month delay.
• FY 2014 appropriations process about to begin, but
delayed due to uncertainty around fiscal cliff, debt
ceiling debates, sequestration.
FY 2013/ FY 2014 Appropriations Process
• Starting FY 2014 budget before completing FY 2013
budget.
• Annual spending limits, already set in law, are
reduced through 2021.
– Squeezes current programs and leaves little room for
new investments.
• House expected to push a budget below spending
limits agreed to in law.
Budget Issues that Concern Principals
 Principals support increased funding for Title I and
full funding for IDEA. (supportive of IDEA full
funding bills introduced).
 Principals oppose additional consolidation and
elimination of federal education programs, which
can be expected from the House budget bill again.
Education has already been cut!
• FY 2011 cut ED by $1.2 billion.
• FY 2012 total ED funding cut by $233 million.
• K-12 education program cuts have a dramatic
impact on the ability of educators to improve
instruction and help children learn.
• Only 2% of the total discretionary federal budget is
spent on education!
2012 Federal Budget Outlays
Source: Committee for Education Funding
Sequestration- What is it and how will it work?
• The “sequester” or “sequestration” describes automatic across-theboard budget cuts set into law by the Budget Control Act of 2011.
• The Super Committee's failure to agree on over $1 trillion in
spending cuts in 2011 led to automatic across-the-board budget cuts
in FY 2013.
– 50% of the cuts from defense, 50% from nondefense spending
(includes U.S. Dept. of Education)
• FY 2013 cuts start March 1, 2013
– Nearly all cuts to ED programs wouldn't start until July, 2013
• This is not a one year issue. Total amount available to Appropriations
Committees to fund individual programs is capped through 2021.
– Reduces spending by an additional $900 billion over 10 years.
Sequestration- What programs are exempt, how
will it impact education?
• Several programs are exempt from sequestration:
Social Security, Pell Grants (only for the first year),
Children’s Health Insurance Program, Food Stamps,
SSI.
• Roughly 5.1% across-the-board indiscriminate cuts to
education programs expected.
• 5.1% cut = $2.6 billion cut for ED.
– Head Start cut = $409 million.
– FY 2013 funding would be below FY 2004 levels
How to Reduce the Impact of Possible Cuts
• Share how budget cuts impact the
programs and students in your school.
• Congress must take a balanced deficit
reduction approach to reduce the
impact of devastating cuts.
AND Education Investments Improve the
Economy
• Since early 2008, nearly 360,000 layoffs in
local education jobs.
– Both enrollments and costs are rising, so spending
per pupil is down in most states.
• Medium income for those with a bachelors
degree is $2.3 million as compared to $900,000
for those with less than a high school diploma.
• Poverty levels for children at record 25% (9%
for 65+).
Questions?
• Ask you member of Congress to support the NAESP policy
recommendations and highlighted legislation to building the
capacity of principals.
• Provide the Members and staff with background about your
school, e.g. % of Title I students your school serves.
• Do you have a great program or curriculum in your school?
• Share how principals make it work for teachers, staff and
students.
Tips and Reminders
→Offer to answer any questions related to
principals and schools, but tell staff that NAESP
advocacy team will follow up to any “weedy”
policy questions.
→Invite the Member and staff to visit your school
when they are in the district.
→Send a thank you email after the meeting.
NAESP will provide a template.
And…
We can help you provide follow up, too -materials, such as descriptions of programs of
interest to the Member or staff person and
NAESP’s advocacy materials.
Wear comfortable shoes and expect short
meetings with busy staff – even standing in the
hallway to have a meeting is common!
 Give yourself time to move through security and
to walk between Congressional building.
Policy and Advocacy Team Contact Information
Kelly Pollitt [email protected], Associate
Executive Director, Advocacy, Policy and
Special Projects (703) 518-6245
Emily Rohlffs [email protected], Legislative
and Advocacy Coordinator (703) 518-6268