Principals' Office

State of the Union Previews Bush’s Education Budget

On Monday, President Bush gave his seventh and final State of the Union address to Congress and the nation, providing a sneak peek at some key initiatives from his budget request that will be released next week. Here are some of the issues that affect public school education.
 
“Pell Grants for Kids”
President Bush called on Congress to adopt another federal voucher program called “Pell Grants for Kids.” The important distinction between traditional recipients of Pell Grants and K-12 students is that public schools are free and compulsory, while Pell Grants help students pay for college that is not free and is voluntary.

NAESP will strongly oppose the President’s proposal and attempt to redirect the $300 million he’s earmarked for the voucher program to a public education priority, like Title I.

ESEA Reauthorization
President Bush instructed Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind before he leaves office, stating “today, no one can deny [the] results” of the law. NAESP does not expect to see a final reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as NCLB, before 2009 but we will continue to share NAESP’s recommendations for the ESEA reauthorization with Congress.

In the meantime, visit the newly designed Leading Educators’ Advocacy Dashboard (LEAD) to find out updates on the progress toward ESEA’s reauthorization. 

Veto Override Vote

You know better than most that the basic health and wellness of your students is vital to their learning successfully in school. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill, H.R. 976, was vetoed by President Bush last week. On Thursday, Oct. 18, the U.S. House will try to override his veto, requiring a 2/3s majority of the present members voting in favor of the override. Contact your legislators today and ask that they vote in favor of the veto override! Go to the Federal Legislative Action center at http://capwiz.com/naesp/issues/alert/?alertid=10418706&PROCESS=Take+Action and scroll down to e-mail your representative.

Principals Take Their Message to Capitol Hill Re: ESEA and Budget

This week, principals from around the country gathered in the Washington, D.C.area to attend NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference. On the first day of the conference the principals attended sessions on the budget process, coalition building, and balancing grass-roots advocacy with the demands of the principalship. They were then briefed by Sally McConnell, NAESP’s Associate Executive Director for Government Relations, about taking their message to Capitol Hill. On the second day of the conference the principals did just that—they met and talked with federal legislators about the ESEA Reauthorization and the federal education budget. Keep abreast of NAESP's recommendations for the ESEA reauthorization as well as how legislative issues affect our schools by visiting the Federal Legislation Action Center.