: PTA Takes Action: Federal Policy - March 2010

• Why Reauthorization of NCLB Is So Important
• Obama Administration Collaborates on Child Hunger and Obesity
• PTA Radio Speaks to Congresswoman Judy Biggert

Why Reauthorization of NCLB Is So Important

No Child Left Behind. There aren’t many educators or parents who haven’t heard of NCLB, the principal federal education law affecting elementary and secondary education. Over the years, NCLB has drawn criticism from PTA members: "All they do is teach to the test," "States are lowering their standards," or "It penalizes schools, taking away resources where they are needed most."

The truth is, NCLB is only the latest version of legislation that President Lyndon Johnson signed into law in 1965. During that time, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was a landmark victory for education advocates, providing much-needed resources for schools serving low-income students. ESEA authorizes funds and outlines provisions to support education initiatives, such as:

• After-school programs and school social workers
• Professional development for teachers
• State assessments
• Parent and family engagement

The reauthorization process is a golden opportunity that advocates get every five years to educate Congress on changes needed in the law. ESEA-NCLB's reauthorization, which should have been completed in 2007, provides an opportunity for dissatisfied policymakers and education advocates to improve the law. PTA is working with Congress and the Department of Education to address the widely recognized challenges posed by NCLB, including strengthening its parent involvement provisions and safeguarding the Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs), which have been consolidated with charter school programming in the President's FY 11 budget request. Consolidation not only directs funding away from the program, but also signals PIRCs removal from law.

ESEA is an important law and is beginning to move on the Hill. The U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor is requesting comments as it begins a bipartisan overhaul of ESEA. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is holding hearings. Now is the opportunity for advocates to tell Congress to improve this principal federal law to ensure that all children receive a high-quality education.

Obama Administration Collaborates on Child Hunger and Obesity

First Lady Launches "Let's Move!" Campaign to Combat Childhood Obesity
On Tuesday, February 9, First Lady Michelle Obama formally launched her "Let's Move!" campaign to combat childhood obesity. At the same time, the Obama Administration is pledging to invest in child nutrition programs and work more collaboratively with these programs to meet the challenges of child hunger and obesity rates, both of which have reached alarming levels.

First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign is a comprehensive effort to raise public awareness and take simple, achievable steps to improve the health of our nation's children. The Mrs. Obama has outlined her basic principles for this effort by identifying the following four goals:

• Helping parents make healthy family choices
• Providing healthier food in schools
• Helping kids be more physically active
• Providing greater access to healthy, affordable food

To achieve these goals, the Let's Move campaign will seek to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders in child health, including parents, community leaders, the medical community, industry, nonprofit associations, and school officials. The First Lady has shown a dedication to health and wellness since moving into the White House, including planting and maintaining a garden on the South Lawn of the White House with local 5th graders and hosting a Healthy Kids Fair in October 2009 in which the Burleigh Manor Middle School PTA was invited to participate.

Another component of the First Lady's campaign was set into motion on February 9, when President Obama established a task force to address the growing health epidemic among our nation's youth. This task force is composed of the cabinet secretaries of the departments of Agriculture, Education, Health and Human Services, and Interior. The president's budget and economic advisors and the First Lady's chief of staff will also contribute. The goal of the task force is to develop an interagency action plan to allow more collaborative efforts to improve children's health outcomes within one generation.

If you would like more information on the Michelle Obama's campaign, please visit the Let's Move! website.

Child Nutrition in President Obama's Budget
The launch of the Let's Move campaign comes in the aftermath of the release of President Obama's budget request for FY 11, in which he pledged an additional $1 billion for each of the next 10 years to improve our nation's child nutrition programs. These funds, if appropriated by Congress, are intended to pay for improvements when Congress takes up the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act later this year. The Child Nutrition Act is the federal law addressing school lunches and breakfasts, local wellness policies, and other federal nutrition programs.

• Reducing the barriers that currently exist that prevent eligible children from participating in nutrition programs,
• Increasing reimbursement rates for school meals, improving the nutritional content of school meals,
• Providing increased information to parents and students about meal quality, and
• Developing nutrition standards for other foods sold in schools, including from vending machines or in a la carte lines.

Teresa Williams, National PTA Secretary-Treasurer attended the event as an invited guest of Sec. Vilsack.

For more information, please read the official transcript of the speech.

In addition, PTA's recommendations for the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization can be found in our 2010 Public Policy Agenda beginning on page 17.

PTA Radio Speaks to Congresswoman Judy Biggert

On February 9, Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) shared with PTA Radio her thoughts on the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Listen to this mother of four talk about how she became involved in PTA and how she feels about family engagement. A print version of this interview is available in the February/March 2010 edition of Our Children magazine.