Friends, educators, parents: Make your voices heard!

Dear Educators and Friends,

We were overwhelmed at the response to our first Facebook Live event where we talked about the new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), last month. (If you missed it, you can watch it here.)

It was so clear that educators and community members like you know what our schools need. The sad fact is that we have an education secretary, Betsy DeVos, who doesn’t.

That’s why we want to know how implementation is going in your community. Will you tell us now?

Betsy DeVos has never been a teacher, school administrator, or school board member. She’s never attended public schools, her children have never attended public schools, and she has no appreciation of their mission of providing opportunity to each and every student.

Well, thanks to ESSA’s requirement that educators be part of education decisions, she could have a lot less influence on your school — but only if educators like you take the opportunity to act.  

So we need to know: how is the implementation of the new education law going in your community?

Click here to share your story with us.

Thanks to ESSA, the real professionals — people like you who know the students and are actually qualified to make decisions in your school — could have more say over things like the number of tests students take, whether they have new text books and science labs, the number of AP and art classes available…and so much more.

But there’s a reason why we say “could.” You and your colleagues will finally get a seat at the table and have your professional voices heard, but only if you take this opportunity and get involved in shaping decisions in your local community. 

Will you share your story with us now, and we’ll help you raise your voice?

Thanks for sharing your school’s story and for being involved.

Donna Harris-Aikens
Director, Education Policy and Practice
National Education Association

Source: Is your voice helping students?