WEAC’s NEA Advocacy& Communications Team Gets Through to Ryan

Congressman Paul Ryan visits with physics students at Greenfield High School during an April 11 visit to the school. The visit was arranged by one of WEAC's NEA Advocacy and Communications Teams.

Forty-five minutes was enough time for special education teacher Nancy Koeckenberg and her colleagues at Greenfield High School to open Congressman Paul Ryan’s eyes to some of the challenges WEAC members confront every day in Wisconsin’s public schools.

During his brief visit to the school, Ryan seemed somewhat taken aback to learn that the cognitive abilities of the students in her special education class range from those of most 1-year-olds to those of a 1st grader, Koeckenberg said. She said Ryan also seemed surprised that it requires a full-time staff of five to work with only 11 students and that some of her special education students live in districts outside of Greenfield. Students are bused in from outside the district because Greenfield’s program is exemplary and other districts lack the resources or facilities to provide for some special needs students.

“The congressman was surprised that we can have students in our classroom who are 19 years old who are still diapered,” Koeckenberg said.

Ryan’s April 11, 2005 visit was prompted by Koeckenberg’s calls to his congressional office to express concerns about the federal government’s failure to fully fund its commitment to special education. Koeckenberg has been a special education teacher at Greenfield High School for 25 years.

“I wanted him to understand the terrible situations we put schools in when we pit special education students against other mandated programs,” Koeckenberg said.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was first enacted in 1975 with a promise to fund 40% of the nation’s special education costs. IDEA was reauthorized in December 2004 and included only 17% funding.

A draft of the new IDEA regulations is expected soon, with hearings scheduled for June 29 in Chicago where WEAC members and others will testify about the new regulations. A final draft of the regulations is expected by the end of the year.

The Ryan visit was coordinated by WEAC NEA Director Sally Heideman, who leads the NEA Advocacy and Communications Team in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. While Ryan was in the building he also visited Craig Carriere’s Advanced Placement physics class, Diane Micek’s innovative alternative education classroom for teenage parents, and health and physical education teacher Paul Hetzel’s state-of-the-art fitness center.

WEAC President Stan Johnson praised the Greenfield teachers and all WEAC members who give up their free time and make an effort to communicate with their elected officials about the issues that affect Wisconsin’s great schools.

“This kind of information means the most when it is coming from the people who serve in the trenches in our schools, because they are the experts,” Johnson said.

During the visit, WEAC members spoke to Ryan about the effects of budget cuts in the district. The instructional media center in the high school is staffed only 60% of the time and the middle school library is staffed only 40%. There is only one school social worker to cover the entire district. Hetzel’s fitness center was created with Title IV money that is now on the chopping block.

WEAC has NEA Advocacy and Communications Teams in congressional districts 1 through 4 and plans to have teams in all eight congressional districts. Teams are composed of UniServ presidents or their designees, UniServ directors, Education Support Professional members, younger members (under 36 years old) and WEAC NEA directors, when possible.

The teams focus on building relationships with Wisconsin’s members of congress back home. Team objectives include directly lobbying members of Congress or their staff on federal education issues, arranging school visits with the congressperson to give him or her a better idea of what happens in Wisconsin’s great schools day to day, and to encourage others members within their congressional district to use the WEAC Cyberlobby for key federal issues when the time is right.

Koeckenberg said the visit with Ryan was pleasant and that many of the Greenfield teachers, staff and students were glad to have him in their building. She also thinks the visit might make a difference the next time Ryan addresses education issues in Congress.

“I hope someone invites him to another district,” Koeckenberg said.

Posted May 16, 2005