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In This Issue
ASCD Releases 10 Education Recommendations for Congress
ASCD released its 2012 Legislative Agenda (PDF) last week at the association's legislative conference in Washington, D.C. The agenda outlines ASCD's public policy priorities for the year and is the organization’s starting point for informing and responding to policy proposals related to Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization as well as other legislative initiatives affecting children, educators, and schools. The agenda offers 10 policy recommendations for Congress that will help achieve the goal of educating students who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged, and who graduate ready for the demands of college, career, and citizenship. Highlights of the agenda include
ASCD's legislative agenda is developed by its Legislative Committee, a diverse cross section of ASCD members representing educators of all types. The committee has already shared the agenda with key education staffers on Capitol Hill representing both sides of the aisle, with the aides suggesting that it would be a helpful resource as ESEA reauthorization moves forward. We encourage you to share the priorities in ASCD's 2012 Legislative Agenda (PDF) with your colleagues and elected officials.
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Teachers a Centerpiece of President Obama's State of the Union
During his 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama said, "Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let's offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best ones. And in return, grant schools flexibility—to teach with creativity and passion, to stop teaching to the test, and to replace teachers who just aren't helping kids learn. As part of ASCD's official response to the president’s address, we encourage him to work with Congress to support educators’ ongoing professional learning so they can gain and sustain the necessary knowledge and skills to prepare today’s students for success in tomorrow’s world. President Obama also focused on other education issues, including
After the address, the Obama administration released The Blueprint for an America Built to Last, a series of ideas, including those cited above, to build an economy that works for everyone.
Ask the President to Make Kids a Priority
ASCD needs you to ask President Obama to make a whole child approach to education a national priority. A President's Council on the Whole Child, comprising educators, community members, state officials, national leaders, and other experts, would focus national attention on children and highlight the need for educators and noneducators alike to come together in support of the whole child. It would also provide the president with expert counsel to coordinate the education, health, and social-service sectors serving our nation’s youth. You know the whole child approach to education works, now tell the president. Sign ASCD's White House petition today and ask your colleagues to sign as well. If we reach 25,000 signatures by February 18, White House staff will review our petition and issue an official response. Thank you for your support!
School Lunches Get Healthier
First Lady Michelle Obama and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack introduced long-awaited new rules that mean U.S. students will soon be eating healthier lunches in their school cafeterias. The new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, which implement important provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, double the required amount of fruits and vegetables on school menus; provide students with whole grain–rich foods; offer only low-fat or fat-free milk; reduce saturated fat, trans fats, and sodium; and set calorie limits based on student age. Overall, the new school lunch standards align with both the federal government's broader Dietary Guidelines for Americans and recommendations from the medical community. But other changes the USDA hoped to make?including limiting servings of starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and lima beans, and no longer counting tomato paste and pizza sauce as a serving of vegetables?were halted by Congress. The guidelines complement the first lady's Let’s Move! initiative, which seeks to improve child nutrition and reduce childhood obesity. Mrs. Obama emphasized that the new standards make the same kinds of practical changes that many parents are already encouraging at home. Schools must implement the significant meal changes beginning next school year.
Former Ohio Schools Chief Tapped as Top Federal Official
President Obama is nominating Deborah Delisle to be the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. Delisle, Ohio's former state superintendent of public instruction, replaces Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, who left the U.S. Department of Education this past summer. Congress must still confirm Delisle's nomination for this new position, which oversees federal K–12 education policies and programs such as Title I and the administration's No Child Left Behind waivers. Delisle, who served as Ohio's schools chief under former Governor Ted Strickland, was instrumental in helping her state win a Race to the Top grant, but was forced to resign last year by new Republican Governor John Kasich. Delisle has also served as superintendent of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District in Ohio, a district director of curriculum and professional development, and an elementary teacher.
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