Federal Relations Network
Of the
Washington State School Directors Association
2011 Participation
Washington DC, February 5-9
Kathy White
Kennewick School Director, Position 3
I arrived in Washington DC on Saturday, February 5, 2011. The first event was orientation on Sunday morning for first time participants, that’s me! We were given a brief overview of this year’s legislative agenda and spent more time on how to influence your senators and representatives. Different role plays were shown and the most effective techniques were emphasized.
The afternoon was filled with presentations about the various education bills pending before Congress. The updating of the “Secondary and Elementary Education Act” which is called “No Child Left Behind (NCLB)” in its current form was discussed at length. The highlight of the afternoon was a presentation by Diane Ravitch, prominent education historian. Although Diane helped write NCLB, she now sees it as destroying true initiative in public education with its punitive sanctions and no reward for success. In her words, “Past reform tried to change public education, NCLB is killing public education.” The afternoon ended with a performance by The Capitol Steps, a satirical, hilarious treat.
In the evening, the WSSDA delegation met to plan the meetings on Capitol Hill which would take place on Tuesday. All 32 members went to Senators Murray and Cantwell and the members went to their respective congressional legislative representative. Patty Murray received an award from our national organization in recognition for her work in writing the “Education Jobs Bill.” I, of course, visited Doc Hastings. John Hegbert, a school director from Pasco, has the most experience in this visit and coordinated our visit. Doc Hastings was traveling on Tuesday and could not meet with us. He left Washington DC on Thursday evening and did not return until Tuesday, giving him a two day work week as our representative in Congress. We met with an assistant who is a graduate of Goldendale high school. John, Rich Jansons from Richland and me represented Tri-Cities and five others represented other parts of the 4th Congressional District.
Monday was a day full of presentations by our President of the National School Board Association (NSBA), the Executive Director, the NSBA Legislative Liaison, legislators and staffers who work on various bills. Part of our delegation visited the Department of Education. They spent about an hour with several staff and learned Governor Chris Gregoire was in town to visit with the Secretary of Education about her plans for education in Washington. We felt this was quite a scoop as no one knew she was coming. Our discussion with the Department of Education focused on the sanctions of NCLB, the need for fully funding Special Education and the value of local school boards. The highlights of the day were Patty Murray’s award presentation and Arnie Duncan, Secretary of Education’s address. Because Patty is from Washington, the state, we got to sit fight up front! And we made a lot of noise!
We were in front for Arnie’s address as well. He spoke of changing NCLB to celebrate success and not be only punitive. He was vague on details and took questions. Because of our good location, Washington State was able to get two good questions asked. We are concerned about the large number of schools labeled failing and the disruption NCLB mandates do to our improvement plans. John has a story of the new high school in Pasco being labeled “failing” before any student attended. Spokane has a story of improvement at a high school not being fast enough so the principal had to be replaced and now the high school is falling further behind with new leadership. Several national news organizations picked up the story and the word was out the Arnie Duncan got a cool reception and pointed questions were not answered.
Monday night we went out to dinner as a group. We were at a Chinese Restaurant and had a great time. School directors are dedicated individuals and loads of fun to be with. Patty Wood, our chair, led a group on a walk on the Mall. I did not join them but they took some great pictures of our Capitol and other monuments at night.
Tuesday was our day on “the Hill” and it was quite an experience. The weather was cold and windy, but sunny as we stood in line at security at the Senate office building. Patty Murray was first on the list and the only legislator we actually spent time with. Several of our group brought a child along and they presented Patty with a memento from our state for her efforts for education. Patty arranged for us to use a hearing room and the surroundings were official and stately. Patty announced that she is one of eight senators, four Republican and four Democrats, working on the rewriting of NCLB. She also said they wanted to get it finished this summer – good news! Sarah, her education assistant, spent more time with us and was eager to hear all our stories and concerns. She gave us her personal email address and urged us to contact her with any information of value. And we would hear from Senator Murray and Sarah as the bill is being written.
We mentioned that we were going to Doc Hastings next and Sarah suggested that an intern show us the way. So, we got to go down to the underground passages between buildings and ride the train, bumping into Senators McCain, Hatch, and others not recognizable on the way. We arrived at Doc’s office early and milled around in the corridor for awhile. It was obvious that senators have bigger offices and more affluent surroundings than representatives. Kate spent about half an hour with us and stated immediately that Doc would not back anything that cost more money and would prefer to lower spending. We referred Kate to Representative Kline from Minnesota, a Republican, who had talked to us the day before. Kline is a former school board member and an advocate for education. We suggested that Doc talk to him about education issues. We all want a balanced budget but education is an investment in the future. Kate agreed and also gave us her personal email address and welcomed any information we could give her from our districts.
We walked outside to get to Senator Cantwell’s office. Seems you can’t go in the underground tunnels without a badge or an escort. Washington is such a beautiful city to walk around, even if it’s cold and the wind is blowing. Senator Cantwell was at a retreat and not in the office. Janel, her education assistant, spent time with us. Janel is a former teacher and knew some of the issues we were concerned about. She, also, shared her email address with us. Since coming home, I have made copies of all three business cards and urged administrators, teachers and other school board members to be an advocate and contact the assistants with their concerns.
Tuesday afternoon was the only down time. Debra Heart (WSSDA President) and I toured the Library of Congress and joined our friends at a reception for legislators that evening. The reception was well attended by school directors and the food was delicious and plentiful.
I left for home on Wednesday. It was quite an experience. It was the first time in years that a School Director from Kennewick attended. Advocacy is one of the duties of school directors. I felt proud to represent the hard working employees of Kennewick School District and the students who deserve the best education possible. I intend to keep up my advocacy with the contacts I have made in Washington DC,
Great report, Kathy. I was glad to learn that Patty Murray is on the NCLB rewrite committee. I have several things to send to her office.