Voice Your Opinion to Your Congressman
by Elizabeth Ahlgren, NEA Director, Morse HS

we all go through is packing up our classrooms/offices for the summer
break. As you sorted through your files, did you notice activities
that you just couldn't fit in this year? Why do you think that is? I
know what it is for me.

With the focus on testing and test scores and the number of days
taken over for testing, I just can't fit in some of my really
engaging activities. Trying to cover all the standards doesn't allow
me to do some of the reinforcement activities that helped to provide
content ownership to my students. Are you in the same predicament? If
so, this is a direct impact of NCLB's requirements.

The time is now to contact members of Congress. Even if you have
already written, called or e-mailed, do it again. The Education and
Labor Committee is beginning to understand that we need to use
multiple measures to assess students and schools. We need flexibility
with our special education students. We need to keep the pressure up.
We need to be using growth models to measure student progress for all
students. Let them know you believe in highly qualified teachers for
every student. Special educators, who have been trained to work with
special education
students, should be allowed to work with
special education students.

All calls, letters, e-mails and personal visits
to members of Congress are logged in by
topic. The numbers mean a lot. So, make the
time to make a contact with your representa-
tive. During a recent visit to one of the local congressional
offices, I learned that letters sent to the local offices are read
much more quickly. Correspondence addressed to the Washington office
gets redirected to West Virginia so that it can pass through security
checks and be screened for anthrax. We don't have months to wait
before the reauthorization of ESEA so get that card, letter or e-mail
written or stop by your local Congress member's office during your
summer break. It's going to take all of us to make a real difference
on this one.

Elizabeth Ahlgren, NEA director
eahlgren@yahoo.com