Dear UMEA member and Music Educator
We just received an update from Representative Chris Stewart's office in
Washington D.C. that the ESEA reauthorization is coming up for a vote in
the House of Representatives this week. They have already received phone
calls from school districts opposing it, but would like to hear from
educators as well.
Let Washington hear from YOU! Below is contact information for our Utah
Representatives and the original announcement about the bill with Senator
contact information included.
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Sincerely, Your UMEA Executive Board, working for YOU
Representatives:
Chris Stewart
(202) 225-9730
Mia Love
(202) 225-3011
Jason Chaffetz
(202) 225-7751
Rob Bishop
(202) 225-0453
Dear UMEA Members and State Music Teachers,
I had the opportunity to attend NAfME meetings in Washington D.C., June
25-28, where I learned that the time has now come for music education to
find its place in the curriculum as a solid core subject. The
reauthorization of the "No Child Left Behind Act," now called the "Every
Child Achieves Act of 2015," (S1177) is going to the floor of the Senate
next week. If the Senate approves this act with a few amendments, it will
move on to the House of Representatives, where this bipartisan legislation
has a very good chance of approval. Dave Fullmer and I visited all the
offices of our senators and representatives while in Washington D.C.,
asking for their support of including music and the arts as core subjects.
Each office was especially supportive of our message.
I have received notification of added explanation and a request from the
office of NAfME. Alexandra Eaton, Legislative Policy Advisor for NAfME,
explained the following:
Next week, on July 7th, the Senate will bring to the floor its draft
reauthorization for No Child Left Behind. As you may be aware, this draft
bill, for the first time in history, enumerates music as a core academic
subject, which we believe will GREATLY strengthen access to music programs
nationwide.
In addition, when the bill goes to the Senate floor, Senator Tammy Baldwin
of Wisconsin (D) and Mark Kirk of Illinois (R) will introduce a bipartisan
amendment on "resource equity." This amendment would require states to
develop a plan to remedy reporting inequities across school districts. A
new indicator would be added, requiring states to report on access to ALL
core academic subjects, including music. States would be required to
report on these indicators and would then work with school districts to
develop plans that would include benchmarks intended to address such
disparities. These indicators, on access to music, have never been
collected on a national scale, and having them will allow us to get a
clearer picture of which students are getting high-quality music education
(and which ones are not) as well as to create targeted strategies to
improve access where it is needed most.
We urge you to contact your Senator and ask them to support S.1177 – the
Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 (the name of the reauthorization bill)
when it goes to the floor. We also urge you to ask them to support the
Baldwin-Kirk amendment on resource equity.
A sample phone or email text is as follows:
"Hi, I'm calling the Senator to ask her/him to support S.1177 next week and
to vote to pass the bill, including the enumeration of core academic
subjects. I also ask her/him to support the resource equity amendment from
Senators Baldwin and Kirk that will require states to report on access to
all core subjects."
Sincerely,
Alexandra Eaton
Legislative Policy Advisor
National Association for Music Education
As music educators, I encourage you to call the offices of Senators Hatch
and Lee this week and leave a simple message, stating your support for the
acknowledgement of music in Utah's core curriculum. As we visited the
office of Congressman Chris Stewart, one of his staff members, Tim Robison,
explained that every phone call, email, and letter is recorded and listened
to without exception and bears great significance in how our
representatives respond. He also explained that short messages are terrific
- there is no need to chat but simply leave your message that will take
about 30 seconds. With this situation, I would recommend that everyone
simply make a phone call and leave a message. As you call, you will be
chatting with someone in the senate offices AND making a difference.
Thereafter, we will look forward to this bill making its way through to the
House of Representatives. It is time to rally round this request and show
our colors in support of this legislation. Thanks in advance for your focus
on this very important issue. I have listed the direct phone numbers of
each of our Senators below. I will be very excited to hear of the response
you receive as you call Washington D.C. We have seen the results of music
being treated as a secondary part of our children’s education in the state
for far too long.
Sincerely,
Greg Wheeler, PhD
President - UMEA
Utah Senator's Contact Information
Senators:
Orin Hatch
(202) 224-5251
Mike Lee
(202) 224-5444
