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Re: Education



Warren Hein posted the following:
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Washington area education coalitions are asking their adherents to
contact home state Senators IMMEDIATELY with a short message
somewhat like this:

"Maintain the federal commitment to science and math education and
include the $250 mil set aside for science and math teacher professional
development within the funds directed for teacher development in Title II
of the Senate ESEA Bill "

Anyone can call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be
connected to your Senators' offices to register your comments--time is of
the essence. Phone calls are better than emails.
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To build on Warren Hein's post, here's a letter from Gerald Wheeler,
physics professor and president of the NSTA, on behalf of the math &
science set-aside of the Senate version of the ESEA (Elementary and
Secondary Education Act).


February 20, 2000

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Lieberman:

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) commends your dedication
to K-12 education, as evidenced by the Public Education Reinvestment,
Reinvention, and Responsibility Act.

We applaud many of the initiatives outlined in your bill, such as a huge
increase in funding for teacher training, mentor programs, and teacher
recruitment and retention activities. However, we are concerned with the
consolidation of Title II, the Eisenhower state grant program, with other
federal education programs.

For years, Title II grants have allowed science and math teachers the
opportunity to gain valuable content knowledge, sharpen their teaching
skills, and keep up with changing advances.

Title II maintains the ongoing federal commitment to science and math
education, first started in the 1960s Sputnik era. Currently, Title II
funds are distributed by formula grant and earmarked for use by
administrators and teachers at the state and local levels.

Today, more than ever, we need highly skilled, qualified teachers to lead
our classrooms. NSTA has serious concerns that if the Senate eliminates
Title II as a resource for science and math teacher training, thousands of
science and math teachers will be denied valuable professional development
opportunities. These teachers will simply not have access to training funds
that were once available to them.

To maintain the federal commitment to science and math education, we
believe any legislative language concerning teacher training should include
a continued set-aside or reserved percentage of funds for science and math
teacher professional development.

I welcome the opportunity to further discuss this issue with you or your
staff in the coming days. I will call your office to explore this
possibility.

Sincerely,


Dr. Gerald Wheeler
Executive Director
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Jane Jackson, Dir., Modeling Workshop Project
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331. http://modeling.la.asu.edu
The more receptive you are, the more you can receive.