Member News -- April 5, 2017
Weighing In On Issues that Count 
Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Act

NNSTOY members provided input on legislation that was just introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill introduced by Representatives Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) seeks to combat chronic student absenteeism in school. 
NNSTOY participation was coordinated through the Government Affairs Committee Chair Justin Minkel (Arkansas 2017). Several members provided written feedback and participated in a conference call with Congressman Ryan's office. They include Angie Miller (New Hampshire 2011), Luke Foley (Vermont 2014), Alex Kajitani (California 2009) Megan Hall (Minnesota 2014) and Leah Luke (Wisconsin 2011).
In a press release on Rep. Ryan's website, NNSTOY CEO and President Katherine Bassett (New Jersey 2000) offered her views about the legislation.  "National Network of State Teachers of the Year knows that chronic student absenteeism is a serious challenge in our nation's schools -- disproportionately affecting students of color and diminishing prospects for success in later life," Bassett said. "We salute Representatives Ryan and Herrera Beutler for the strategic approach to tackling this persistent problem, particularly the call for the development of mentoring programs.  We know from experience that these programs work."
Read the bill. 
Washington Update
Jane West
Last week the President proposed cuts for this fiscal year, FY 2017.  Congress is due to take up the final spending bills for Fiscal year 2017 on April 28 when the current one expires. The President's proposal comes as Congress only has a couple of weeks to consider it before they leave town for a two-week recess April 10.  Education cuts proposed include the following:
  • $1.3 billion cut from Pell Grants, which reflects the reduction in Pell Grant funding in the House and Senate Appropriations Committee-reported bills (the Senate bill rescinds $1.2 billion of previously appropriated Pell Grant funding while the House bill cuts the 2017 funding level by $1.3 billion). 
  • $1.2 billion cut from Supporting Effective Instruction (Title II) State Grants, which the President's 2018 budget entirely eliminates. Note that if Congress were to make the $1.2 billion cut in 2017, then the President's budget could not produce $2.4 billion of savings from eliminating the program in 2018.  The President's budget used that $2.4 billion of "savings" in 2018 to offset defense spending above the defense cap. 
  • $190 million cut by eliminating the comprehensive literacy development grants (formerly Striving Readers) in Title I.
  • The remaining $248 million cut reflects programs eliminated by the Every Student Succeeds Act and whose funding is intended to be covered by the new Title IV block grant in FY 2017.
What We Are Reading
Interesting and emerging ideas about education from around the country
"4 Disturbing Facts About Preschool Suspension," Rasheed Malik, Center for American Progress
"Bridging the Educator-Policymaker Divide," Frederick M. Hess and Grant Addison, U.S. News
" The Supreme Court Rules in Favor of a Special Education Student," Anya Kamanetz and Cory Turner, nprEd
New Ways to Engage
Plug into teacher leadership outside of your school.

Voya Unsung Heroes.  K-12 educators across the country still have time to apply for a Voya Unsung Heroes grant for the 2017 calendar year. Any eligible teacher with an innovative program idea is invited to apply by visiting the Voya  Unsung Heroes webpage  and submitting their information online by April 30, 2017.

Harvard Graduate Workshops.  The Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced a series of 2-week, online professional development workshops for K-12 educators. Among the topics: Ensuring Success for All: Tools and Practices for Inclusive Schools and Educating Global Citizens (both offered April 24-May 7), and The Opportunity of Bilingualism: Serving Today's Young English Language Learners and Learning through Discussion and Disagreement (offered May 15-18). View the  full list of offerings .

Expand Your Policy Reach
Deadline Extended for Survey

Tired of passively reacting to policies someone else enacted? 

Time to raise your voice! Weigh in with your views on important issues like equity and social and emotional learning by taking the NNSTOY 2017 Federal Policy Survey. 

T he Government Affairs Committee has extended survey window until Monday, April 9.  The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Kudos, Shout-Outs & Accolades*
News from the NNSTOY community

Bob Williams (Alaska 2009), Matinga Ragataz (Michigan 2011) and Ashli Skura Dreher (New York 2014) have been named to the 2017 class of inductees to the National Teacher Hall of Fame. Congratulations on your well-deserved and impressive honor!

Gary Abud's (Michigan 2014) "Spring Break and the Equinox of Student Engagement" was published in EdWeek and on the NNSTOY blog. Abud writes about cues teachers can take from electronic dance music (EDM) to engage students. "Engaging our students is not something we can force; it is not about compliance. Instead, educators must create the conditions that invite students to throw more of themselves into their learning, as if they are at an EDM concert," Abud says.

Nate Bowling's (Washington and National Finalist 2016) article "Lessons from the Garden: What Teachers Can Do to Help Our Most Vulnerable Students Thrive" has been published in EdWeek and on the NNSTOY blog. He compares his unfruitful garden to the current educational landscape, writing, "What is happening to them is far worse than what I did to my pitiful garden. These challenges to the humanity of our students pose an existential threat."

Justin Minkel's (Arkansas 2017) article, "Go far together: Lessons in collective leadership" was published on the CTQ Collaboratory. His piece offers insights into collaborative leadership: "Compromise, to me, means more than the acceptance that we won't get everything we want. It's also about developing the humility to accept that what other people care about is just as legitimate as our own priorities. They possess pieces of the complicated truth that we don't."

Megan Allen's  (Florida 2010) article "The Importance of Encouraging Colleagues: Why Everyone Needs a 'Nudger'" was published in EdWeek. Allen writes, "I am who I am because of colleagues who have tapped me on the shoulder, who have encouraged me forward when I was afraid to take the plunge. I owe a lot to the nudgers in my life. So I try every day to pay it forward. I pride myself in being a primo-numero-uno nudger of great teachers and their ideas."


*Send us your scoop!  If you have professional information to share in  Member News,
 please connect with laurie@nnstoy.org.

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