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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2001

News Release

Nation's Teachers Demand Reform with Results

NEA members tell Senate: "Reform without resources won't produce results."

Washington, D.C. - As the Senate and White House teeter on the brink of impasse over education funding, the nation's teachers urge negotiators to not give in until a solid commitment to children and public education is reached. NEA President Bob Chase warned that bringing an incomplete package to the Senate floor would have dire consequences, leaving the fate of civil rights protections, vouchers, teacher quality, school repair and class size reduction uncertain.

"There is no single piece of legislation that is more critical to NEA and our 2.6 million members than the Elementary Secondary Education Authorization (ESEA) Act. It is the measure of our national commitment to a high quality education for all children," declared Chase. "President Bush is correct that money isn't everything, but we must understand reform without resources won't produce results." The bipartisan bill reported by the Senate Education committee, S.1, authorizes an increase in funding of more than $10 billion. The Administration package provides only $669 million. Chase demanded that a commitment to making every public school great should prevail in negotiations over funding levels in the final bill. Chase called on Senators to pass a bill that delivers for children in the following areas:

• Title I: support for America's neediest schools
  Under the President's budget, Title I would only fully serve one-third of all eligible children, while S. 1 would double the number of children served and provide more than $500 million to turn around low-performing schools. After-school programs make a critical difference to children striving to achieve high standards; however, based on the Bush budget, no additional children would be served. In contrast, the Senate bill would extend learning opportunities to help an additional 1 million children. Chase also urged that federal funds for after school services be subject to civil rights laws and separation of church and state protections. "Federal funds should not be used to subsidize discrimination."
  Chase denounced the proposed "Straight A's" demonstration project that would shift control over education decisions from local schools to the states and undermine our national responsibility to targeting funds to the greatest needs. Chase stressed that any use of taxpayer money for vouchers under this project should be strictly prohibited.
• Reject Vouchers: support for public schools
  Chase praised negotiators for rejecting any voucher proposals and urged them to hold fast on this position. "It has never been more clear where the public stands on vouchers," said Chase. In the last election, voters in California and Michigan sent an undeniable message by defeating vouchers. Minority voters in those states rejected vouchers in overwhelming numbers.
• Modern Schools: support for school repair
  In addition to cutting funds for school repairs, President Bush is proposing to roll back school repair money approved by Congress last year. "This is an outrage," said Chase. "The average age of America's school buildings is 42-years. A recent NEA study documented more than $300 billion in unmet infrastructure and technology needs -- an amount states and localities cannot meet alone." Despite this overwhelming need, Senate negotiators appear to be abandoning last year's bipartisan agreement to provide urgent school repairs and reduce class size. "With schools facing a $127 billion bill for repairs alone, the federal government must do its part by targeting funds to schools with the greatest needs," said Chase, in urging the Senate to restore this program.
• Smaller classes: support for individualized attention
  In just three years, class size reduction efforts have helped 1.7 million children. "Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that smaller classes boost student achievement," said Chase. "The President's budget would hinder local control by forcing school districts to choose between teacher quality and class size reduction. Senate negotiators should reject the consolidation of teacher quality and class size into a block grant, which leaves schools with less money to recruit and retain quality teachers at the levels required in the next decade." School districts are at the halfway point in reaching the goal to hire 100,000 new teachers. But with the money provided in the Administration budget, they will only be able to hire 7,000 teachers next year -- even if districts spent all of the proposed increase on class size reduction.
• Teacher Quality: support for quality teachers for every child
  NEA is an outspoken proponent of quality teacher preparation, certification, rigorous testing for all new teachers, and excellent professional development and in-service evaluations for current teachers. NEA opposes a pencil and paper test for current teachers.
  Chase said teacher quality exemptions for charter schools being considered by Senate negotiators defied logic. "The exemptions run counter to the goal of increasing accountability and providing every child with a quality teacher," said Chase. "It simply doesn't make sense and would disproportionately hurt the poorest students who need the most help. If we truly want to 'leave no child behind,' we must demand that all children have access to a quality teacher." For example, in North Carolina, charter schools allowed to use uncertified teachers were among the lowest in student achievement levels.
• Room for Agreement
  "The top priority for America's voters is investing taxpayer dollars in children and public schools," said Chase. "As the Senate addresses ESEA this week, Senators are presented with an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference for children and public education. This is our single greatest opportunity for us as a nation to truly make a difference in the life of every child."
  Chase added that White House and Congressional commitment to public education would be challenged again this week when budget conferees meet to finalize the Congressional Budget resolution. Chase urged conferees to support the Senate funding levels, which would provide significant investments not only to ESEA programs, but also to other critical programs including Head Start, IDEA special education, and Pell grants for college students.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.