Burke to Serve on ESEA Committee

WEAC Director of Government Relations Bob Burke has been selected to serve on the NEA's newly created Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Advisory Committee.

The 26-member committee was created as a result of New Business Item 44, which was passed during this month's NEA Representative Assembly. The committee's goals are to provide input and advice to NEA leaders about possible improvements to ESEA, and to help develop priorities for the law's 2007 reauthorization.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act is the main federal education law, describing federal requirements for the nation's public schools, most of which receive some form of aid under the statute, PL 107-110. Its latest reauthorization was signed into law by President Bush in 2002. The law is extremely controversial, largely because it strongly emphasizes standardized tests that rob school districts and teachers of control over their classrooms and the content of their educational offerings.

WEAC and the NEA have worked to fix and fund the law so that it provides a great school for every child.

Becky Pringle, a member of the NEA Executive Committee, will serve as the ESEA Advisory Committee's chair.

Resource page on ESEA

Posted July 26, 2005