Don’t Miss Your Chance to Speak to Congress
March 13 is the deadline to register for the 2017 NASSP Advocacy Conference. Register today to be part of the conference in Washington, D.C., April 24-26. Federal advocacy training, discussions about key education legislation, and meetings with your congressional representatives are just some of the informative and engaging programming features of this year’s conference. There is no registration fee to attend, but travel and lodging expenses may be required. Please contact Zachary Scott with any questions.
Making the Most of the ESSA Toolkit
Have you found NASSP’s ESSA Toolkit useful? Did the fact sheets help you better understand ESSA and improve your advocacy efforts? Or perhaps you introduced some of the model legislation to your state education agency? If your answer is yes to any of these questions, please let us know! Draft a blog post or provide a short statement highlighting your experiences and why others should use the toolkit. Your contributions will be used to illustrate the impact of this resource throughout our network, website, and beyond. Email Zachary Scott to share your experience.
Inside the Beltway
What’s Happening in Washington?
Last week, President Trump addressed Congress in in his first speech before a joint session. Borrowing rhetoric from President Obama, Trump stated that “education is the civil rights issue of our time.” Trump then called on members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, noting that “these families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious, or home school that is right for them.”
Why Should Principals Care?
Despite calling on both parties to pass a school choice bill, Trump did not go into further details of what one may look like or how it would be funded. However, there have been rumors that the Trump administration is currently considering a federal tax credit scholarship program to expand school choice policies. A program such as this could be included in a larger tax reform bill and potentially pass through the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority of support in each chamber to pass. NASSP will continue to closely monitor this ongoing situation and will continue to be a leading voice advocating for the support of public education.
In the Press
Predicting What Will Happen in Education This Year, Education Week
2017 is gearing up to be a year full of uncertainty for education policy. A recent article in Education Week aims to provide some insight into what we could see in the education world this year. Some of these predictions include public schools facing increased competition due to vouchers, and that school systems will shift their focus to concentrate more on districtwide change.
Evaluating Each State’s High School Graduates, Achieve
Are high schools in your state properly preparing students to be college- and career-ready (CCR) upon graduation? A recent study from Achieve examines high school graduates in each state and determines the level that those individuals are CCR. It also examines the different accountability measures that each state uses to help determine its own CCR levels.
A New Website to Help Your State Meet ESSA Requirements, Evidence for ESSA
Evidence for ESSA has now released a free web-based resource that provides easy access to information on programs that meet the evidence standards defined in ESSA. The website is designed for education leaders at the state, district, and school levels to provide information to state chiefs, superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, and anyone else interested in which programs meet the ESSA evidence standards.
The Committee for Education Funding (CEF) Launches its New Website, CEF
CEF, of which NASSP is a participating member, has launched a new website to help students, parents, educators, and advocates learn the important funding issues currently facing the education world. CEF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition with the goal of achieving adequate federal financial support for our nation’s education system.