1)   Last week, the Education Equality Project (EEP) joined a coalition of 18 education advocacy, civil rights, and policy organizations (including UNCF) who submitted a set of recommendations to the President, Secretary of Education, and Congress regarding the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  Our goal is to keep the President, Secretary, and Congress focused on our number one issue:  equity in education. As we begin what will surely be a long reauthorization process we want to be sure that closing the achievement gap is first and foremost on our collective agenda.

Overall, the group endorses the direction the Obama Administration is taking on school reform. The signees ask the Administration and Congress to maintain and elaborate the bright lines in federal law around accountability and teacher quality and effectiveness, and couple that with a competitive grant strategy that invests in and rewards states that are ready, willing, and able to take on the courageous work of education reform, including reconstituting, restarting, converting, or shutting down the most chronically low-performing schools.

The letter also makes recommendations about other key areas including extended learning time, school finance, professional development, and human capital and school leadership.

The signing organizations are: Citizen Schools, Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, Civic Builders, Colorado Succeeds, Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCan), Democrats for Education Reform, Education Equality Project, Education Reform Now, Hope Street Group, Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, The Mind Trust, National Council of La Raza, Parent Revolution, Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, Rodel Foundation of Delaware, State of Black Connecticut Alliance, Texas Institute for Education Reform, and UNCF (United Negro College Fund)

The full text of the letter can be found on our website here, and is attached as a PDF (“Open Letter on ESEA Reauthorization (March 2010)”).