In Monday’s issue of Politico, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that the Department of Education would be ready to provide “regulatory relief” from the current iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), otherwise known as No Child Left Behind, if Congress is unable to reauthorize the law before the end of the year.

The first in a series of bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) passed the House Education and the Workforce Committee yesterday by a party line vote of 23-16. The Republican bill, HR 1891 New Priorities in Education Spending Act, seeks to eliminate 43 education programs in order to eliminate “ineffective” and “duplicative” programs and reduce the role of the federal government in education.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced plans to use approximately $500 million of the fiscal year 2011 Race to the Top funding for a major competition in support of bold and comprehensive state plans for raising the quality of early learning programs.

In order to advocate for new policies that will give principals the tools they need to function as effective school leaders, K-8 educators from around the nation have gathered for a conference in the nation’s capital to discuss the upcoming ESEA reauthorization. During NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference, which takes place Jan. 30-Feb.

Media Advisory          
Contact: Kaylen Tucker, NAESP
703-518-6257
ktucker@naesp.org

Principals push for focus on early childhood and professional development during annual legislative meeting.

Media Advisory
Kaylen Tucker, NAESP
703-518-6257
ktucker@naesp.org

Alexandria, VA—July 28, 2010—Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., introduced a bill today that creates a grant program to provide principals with professional development and mentoring programs to strengthen their knowledge of early childhood education.