The National PTA supports several family-engagement provisions in the bill the U.S. Senate may consider soon to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), according to National PTA President Betsy Landers.
On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed the Strengthening America鈥檚 Schools Act of 2013, which is the title of the legislation to reauthorize the ESEA. Education Week Politics K-12 blogger Alyson Klein that the legislation 鈥渁ctually has an outside chance of advancing to the floor of the Senate鈥攚hich would be a big deal. The Senate hasn鈥檛 considered an ESEA bill, since, well No Child Left Behind in 2001, which took almost two months to debate.鈥�
The proposed law 鈥渨ould build local and state capacity for effective family engagement in education by using research-based practices,鈥� said Landers.
In a phone interview today, Landers noted that the in particular is pleased about:
- Allowing an increase from 1 to 2 percent in Title I funds designated for family-engagement efforts,
- A provision to reauthorize funding for the defunded Parent Information and Resource Centers (PIRC) program, and
- Language that would allow contracting with experienced parent organizations to assist in training family-engagement best practices.
This last item could directly benefit the PTA, which would be likely to seek such contracts. 鈥淲e really strongly advocate for sustainable and best practices in parent involvement in our schools, so we鈥檙e happy to see this [provision] become part of this bill. It was not in previous reauthorization bills, and it is our sincere hope that it includes PTAs,鈥� she said.
At the prospect of increasing the Title I set-aside for family engagement from 1 percent to 2 percent, 鈥渨e鈥檙e really thrilled,鈥� Landers said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we have long advocated for strongly, and we鈥檙e pleased to see that that was part of these improvements.鈥�
Rural areas in particular would benefit if the is revived. Funding has been discontinued by the U.S. Department of Education. Therefore, most PIRC programs are no longer in operation, although several are continuing with funding from other sources, according to the .
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a huge loss because PIRCs helped the PTA community to strengthen family-school partnerships,鈥� said Landers.
In its formal statement on the bill, the National PTA wrote: 鈥淪ince 2007, Congress has failed families, students and 糖心动漫vlog by delaying a comprehensive reauthorization of the law. National PTA lauds the commitment of Congress to move reauthorization legislation forward this summer, and urges members of Congress to work together in a bipartisan manner to put the needs of children first.鈥�
In his Rick Hess Straight Up blog for Education Week, the American Enterprise Institute鈥檚 education policy maven that he does not expect reauthorization to pass this year, or next.
Landers counters, 鈥淲e鈥檙e always positive, and looking forward to the reauthorization. We will be speaking out and advocating for it, having our network across the nation calling legislators to talk about reauthorization... Parents are very concerned and want to see reauthorization of the ESEA. It鈥檚 our kids were talking about, and our school system.鈥�