Policy discussions that take place in Washington, D.C., often neglect to address one of the most important aspects dictated by federal legislation: the flow of money from the federal level down to the building level. At the second panel of NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference, which discussed state perspectives on ESEA’s reauthorization, one attendee summed up the frustration felt by many school principals across the country when he told the panelists that no matter what type of legislation Congress passes, funding never seems to reach the building level where it is needed the most.
“When I go to Capitol Hill, I tell legislators don’t give money to the states or school districts, give it to me, give it directly to schools, because we are the ones who are underfunded,” said the attendee.
Nancy Reder, the deputy executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, argued that federal funding for education is often wasted on endless data collection that rarely improves outcomes for students. She urged principals to tell their congressman to stop funding data collection that has not been proven to catalyze reform. Adam Ezring, the senior advocacy associate for the Council of Chief State School Officers, echoed this sentiment and added that data collecting and reporting efforts should be streamlined at the state and federal levels and that the Department of Education needs to establish a single office where all data collected by states can be sent and processed.
As an organization that maintains a strong presence in Washington and stays in contact with principals across the country on a daily basis, NAESP understands that federal education legislation is useless, unless it gives individual schools the funding and tools needed to improve student outcomes. As ESEA reauthorization moves forward, NAESP’s advocacy team will continue to protect the interests of individual principals who are looking to the federal government for help.

At the Federal Relations Conference’s opening meeting, Executive Director Gail Connelly and Deputy Executive Director Mike Schooley discussed NAESP’s legislative goals for the upcoming year and summed up NAESP’s central tenet in one simple sentence: Principals need the autonomy and the authority to lead strong schools. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said, “There are no good schools without good principals.” Keeping the secretary’s position in mind, NAESP believes that it is imperative to include policies in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that support rather than hinder principals’ ability to do their jobs.
NAESP is working in conjunction with other education associations to prevent policies that compromise principals’ autonomy and policies that tie principals’ and teachers’ job security solely to standardized test scores from ever becoming law. During the conference’s opening panel, representatives from the National Education Association, the American Association of School Administrators, and the International Reading Association stressed that the needs of students—and not the goals of politicians—must drive ESEA reauthorization. NAESP is fighting for the inclusion of policies that provide funding for principals’ professional development and policies that meet the needs of the whole child. 
Schooley closed the opening remarks by outlining “four M’s” that NAESP and its members will be focusing on in the upcoming months: minimizing the inclusion of bad policy in education bills, maneuvering at the state and local levels, motivating constituents to get involved, and maximizing the pressure on lawmakers to support smart education policy. Reauthorization of ESEA, a bill that affects all principals on a daily basis, is a deliberate process (the first group of panelists predicted ESEA reauthorization would not occur until 2011), but concerted efforts at the federal level can positively influence the development of this legislation.

This Sunday, Jan. 31 marks the start of NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference (FRC), the purpose of which is to bring representatives from all fifty states to Washington to meet with legislators on Capitol Hill and discuss pending legislation.
The focus of this year’s conference is professional development for principals. With reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on the legislative horizon, NAESP wants to ensure that any new legislation will provide funding for programs that will improve principals’ development as education leaders. We know that second only to teaching, the most effective means to improving student academic performance is strong school leadership, and to institute the commitment required to lead learning communities and dramatically improve student achievement, principals require significant training and support.
With the help of NAESP’s advocacy team, FRC attendees will push for professional development opportunities in two specific areas: early childhood development and high-quality mentoring programs.  Research has proven that effective pre-kindergarten programs increase students’ chances of graduating from high school and attending college, and now more than ever, elementary school principals are actively engaged in early childhood learning. Unfortunately, many principal preparation programs and school systems currently lack sufficient training to teach principals how to design and lead quality early childhood programs. To reverse this trend, new policies in the ESEA reauthorization must include program strategies to create comprehensive early childhood programs.
Throughout the conference’s duration (Jan. 31 to Feb 2), NAESP will be blogging about pertinent discussions and activities. Follow us on the Principals' Office and Twitter, and learn more about the FRC by visiting our Web site.

Among educators’ concerns regarding the No Child Left Behind Act is the law’s over-reliance of standardized assessments as the sole or primary measure of student, school, or educator success. The solution, many say, is using “multiple measures”—but what that encompasses is yet to be determined.
What do you believe should be measured to gain a full and accurate evaluation of your school and students’ success? Also, what do you believe is a fair and accurate measure of teacher and principal success?
Help NAESP define what principals mean when they request assessment by “multiple measures.”

As part of the new School Improvement Grant (SIG) proposal, Secretary Duncan would require low-performing schools receiving SIG funds to implement one of four reform models. Two of the models would require the dismissal of the principal. The other two models would likely result in the dismissal of the principal. Comments on the Department of Education’s proposed changes to the SIG program are due this week.
NAESP will submit comments this week with this clear message: Automatically replacing principals of low-performing schools is likely to be hasty and unwarranted. The better solution is to ensure that all principals  have the time, talent, and tools they need to succeed.
NAESP encourages all principals to review the secretary’s proposal and to submit comments by the Sept. 25, 2009 deadline. Review the complete proposal and find instructions for submitting comments on the proposal here.

NAESP President Nancy Davenport represented pre-K-8 principals in the well-documented flurry of activity at the U.S. Department of Education on Monday Feb. 2. First Lady Michelle Obama's energizing address to Department of Education staff has been well publicized. Less known, however, is that prior to Obama's speech, Davenport was part of an exclusive, invited group of association leaders who met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to discuss the federal education agenda. Read the statement.

Last week, Leslie Potter blogged about the financial crunch occurring in her school and district, including several layoffs. Our nation’s leaders are working diligently on a second economic stimulus bill that will create jobs and help prevent layoffs across the country. The House version of the stimulus bill, H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, includes more than $120 billion for education. A vote on H.R. 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives is expected on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Contact your representative today and ask for his or her support of H.R. 1.
You can e-mail your representative via NAESP’s Leading Educators’ Advocacy Dashboard by scrolling to the bottom of the screen.
NAESP has sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives requesting support of H.R. 1. We hope that you will also contact your representatives in favor of this important legislation.

Father’s Day, Administrative Assistant’s Day, Women’s History Month … the list goes on. Now we can add Virginia Principals Appreciation Week! Governor Timothy M. Kaine has declared January 12-16, 2009, Principals Appreciation Week.
This statewide public acknowledgement of the important role that principals play in their school communities, helping students achieve bright futures, formally recognizes principals for all they do. Read the proclamation. Hopefully, more states will formally recognize principals in this way.
How do you think Principal Appreciation Week should be celebrated?

On Monday, President Bush gave his seventh and final State of the Union address to Congress and the nation, providing a sneak peek at some key initiatives from his budget request that will be released next week. Here are some of the issues that affect public school education.   “Pell Grants for Kids”President Bush called on Congress to adopt another federal voucher program called “Pell Grants for Kids.” The important distinction between traditional recipients of Pell Grants and K-12 students is that public schools are free and compulsory, while Pell Grants help students pay for college that is not free and is voluntary.

NAESP will strongly oppose the President’s proposal and attempt to redirect the $300 million he’s earmarked for the voucher program to a public education priority, like Title I.

ESEA ReauthorizationPresident Bush instructed Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind before he leaves office, stating “today, no one can deny [the] results” of the law. NAESP does not expect to see a final reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as NCLB, before 2009 but we will continue to share NAESP’s recommendations for the ESEA reauthorization with Congress.

In the meantime, visit the newly designed Leading Educators’ Advocacy Dashboard (LEAD) to find out updates on the progress toward ESEA’s reauthorization. 

You know better than most that the basic health and wellness of your students is vital to their learning successfully in school. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill, H.R. 976, was vetoed by President Bush last week. On Thursday, Oct. 18, the U.S. House will try to override his veto, requiring a 2/3s majority of the present members voting in favor of the override. Contact your legislators today and ask that they vote in favor of the veto override! Go to the Federal Legislative Action center at http://capwiz.com/naesp/issues/alert/?alertid=10418706&PROCESS=Take+Action and scroll down to e-mail your representative.

This week, principals from around the country gathered in the Washington, D.C.area to attend NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference. On the first day of the conference the principals attended sessions on the budget process, coalition building, and balancing grass-roots advocacy with the demands of the principalship. They were then briefed by Sally McConnell, NAESP’s Associate Executive Director for Government Relations, about taking their message to Capitol Hill. On the second day of the conference the principals did just that—they met and talked with federal legislators about the ESEA Reauthorization and the federal education budget. Keep abreast of NAESP's recommendations for the ESEA reauthorization as well as how legislative issues affect our schools by visiting the Federal Legislation Action Center.