Policy

If you had asked me six months ago if I would be requesting meetings with legislators and sharing my experiences as an educator with them, I would have laughed at you. But that is exactly what I did this month and will be doing in the future. If you are an educator you need to do this too. Let me tell you how.   This month, I attended the Michigan Educator Voice Convening and spent most of the day in the Michigan Capitol building. I first met with Michigan Representative Adam Zemke (@adamzemke) with a team of three teachers and…

Editor’s Note:  Java Robinson, NBCT, teaches second grade in Montgomery County, Md. She supports her colleagues in pursuing and achieving Board certification as a coach, recruitment coordinator and candidate support provider. She is also a Teach Ambassador, working to recruit minority candidates into the teaching profession.  The views expressed in this blog are her own.   We Can Do Better! This has been the battle cry of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) ever since the election of the new governor in Maryland, who has proposed policy changes and budget cuts to public education.  So what could we do? Nearly…

The last iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), aka No Child Left Behind (NCLB), was slated to be reauthorized in 2007. Everyone agrees that the law needs to be updated, and it seems like the time is ripe. At the beginning of the year, the Senate Education Committee indicated they would take up the reauthorization this year and held several hearings seeking input on the best way to change the law. In January, NBCTs Rachelle Moore and Stephen Lazar testified in two of these panels to discuss how federal funds can better support a teaching continuum and…

Editor’s Note: Rachelle Moore, a Board-certified first-grade teacher from Seattle, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee today on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act (ESEA). The following is her testimony. To watch a video of the hearing and see the testimony of other witnesses, click here. http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=501f2541-5056-a032-5289-c10bc632ec00 To see the National Board press release about Moore’s testimony, click here: https://www.nbpts.org/newsroom/board-certified-teachers-urge-congress-use-esea-reauthorization-strengthen-teaching Thank you Chairman Alexander, Senator Murray, and distinguished committee members for the opportunity to speak today.  Good morning, everyone. My name is Rachelle Moore and I am a National Board Certified Teacher and…