RRCNA Action Alert & Advocacy Update - February, 2008

Dear RRCNA Members:

Leap Year Trivia: The chances of being born on Leap Day are one in 1500. Defying these odds, at least one member of Congress celebrated a birthday on February 29th (see below for the name). In other Washington news:

1. U. S. House Appropriations chairman positively acknowledges Reading Recovery during hearing on education budget.
    
2. RRCNA Summary of President’s education budget recommendations for FY 2009.
    
3. RRCNA participates on panel for Education Industry Association conference in Washington.
    
4. Senate ESEA reauthorization bill out in April?
    
5. National Center for Education Research (NCER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U. S. Department of Education announces its second Summer Research Training Institute.

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1. Reading Recovery mentioned in hearing: Education Secretary Margaret Spellings testified for more than 2 hours on February 26th before the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee of House Appropriations. Chairman David Obey (D-WI), who also chairs the full Appropriations Committee, revisited the Department’s conduct under Reading First and observed that that USDE operated the program like an earmark while excluding programs like Reading Recovery with good reputations and found to be scientifically valid. The Chairman also chastised the Department for writing to chief state school officers about the cut in Reading First funds without acknowledging their responsibility for the reduction or the substantial increases in Title I and other funds for literacy education.
    
2. Federal education funding: Chairman Obey observed that the President’s education budget was inadequate in many ways, but noted that he would not waste congress’ time negotiating a funding bill for FY2009 if the White House takes a “my way or no way” approach.
    
3. EIA conference: RRCNA was invited by the Knowledge Alliance to participate in a plenary session called “Knowledge and Innovation in Education: Friends or Foes?” Other panelists included Learning Point Assoc. the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Wireless Generation. The Education Industry Association consists primarily of private sector providers of supplemental services and other education programs. RRCNA provided information about the What Works Clearinghouse review of Reading Recovery.
    
4. ESEA reauthorization: While it is uncertain that the ESEA reauthorization will pass this year, observers think the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will make the first move with a draft bill, possibly in April.
    
5. IES summer institute: The topic is cluster-randomized trials and it takes place July 6-18, 2007 at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
    

Leap Year Trivia Answer: Happy Birthday to Congressman Bart Stupak (R-MI)! When are your elected officials’ birthdays? A birthday greeting can be a way to “stay in touch.”