Vantage Point: Back from the Beltway, ever vigilant
In February’s Vantage Point, I described my approach to CSBA’s relationship with the federal government on education issues: We want to be partners, but we’re prepared to “coil and strike,” not unlike the rattlesnake on the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag that became such an important symbol in this country’s history. I had the opportunity to put this notion into practice in March, when CSBA’s Federal Issues Council spent three days in Washington, D.C.
Over the course of those three days, the CSBA delegation held 27 meetings with a wide variety of elected officials and education leaders, including Sen. Barbara Boxer and staff for First Lady Michelle Obama, the U.S. Department of Education and the education committees in both the House and Senate. We also met with a wide variety of organizations that will play a critical role in the debate on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, such as the Campaign for High School Equity, the National Education Association, the National Governors Association, the Economic Policy Institute and the Forum for Education and Democracy.
The timing of our trip was fortunate. With the ink on the Obama administration’s blueprint for ESEA reauthorization barely dry when we began our first meetings, CSBA was the first organization from outside the Washington Beltway that many of the people we met with heard from on the administration’s approach. We praised the language in the blueprint where appropriate, but we also pointed out areas where we believe that the administration’s actions don’t quite match its rhetoric.
It was telling (and a bit troubling) that our most difficult meeting during the course of the week may have been the one with Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education. Having been a school district superintendent in California, Dr. Meléndez is well aware of the myriad issues the state’s schools are facing, not the least of which has been an ongoing series of draconian budget cuts that threatens the entire system of public schools as we know it. But despite impassioned pleas from delegation members Jill Wynns and Priscilla Cox about the need for flexibility and additional intervention models under the School Improvement Grants program, Dr. Meléndez and her staff defended the administration’s proposed four intervention models as being adequate to address the needs of our schools. While cordial, we begged to differ.
The delegation covered much more than just ESEA reauthorization in our three days of meetings. We talked about school nutrition and wellness issues, community schools, early childhood education, arts education, career and technical education, common core standards, and even charter schools. Overall, the trip demonstrated the importance for CSBA to always be vigilant in ensuring that we strongly convey the association’s viewpoint on federal issues. It’s simply not enough to assume that the presence of someone from California within the administration assures us that our point of view will be appreciated or understood.
That’s why I find myself still coiled, and ready to strike.