GEORGIA EDUCATIONAL LEADERS LOBBY CAPITOL HILL REPRESENTATIVES

By: Hal Beaver | August 2, 2011, 6:08 pm

Georgia Educational Leaders Lobby Capitol Hill Representatives

for ESEA Policies that will Improve Schools

Dr. Julie Raschen, Julia Mashburn, Cecil Patterson, and Eddie Pollard of the Georgia Association of Elementary School Principals (GAESP) and Dr. Bob Heaberlin of the Georgia Association of Middle School Principals (GAMSP) recently joined elementary and middle-level educators and leaders from across the country in the nation’s capital during the National Association of Elementary School Principals’ National Leaders Conference to advocate for new policies that will give principals, who are the primary catalysts for shaping long-term school improvement, the tools they need to function as effective school leaders. The National Leaders Conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill from July 13-15.

Raschen is president-elect of GAESP and principal of Brooks Elementary School in Coweta County.  Mashburn is president of GAESP and principal of Riverview Elementary School in Dawson County.  Patterson, who recently retired, is the GAESP state representative for NAESP and principal of Gray Elementary School in Jones County.

Pollard is the GAESP federal relations director for NAESP, principal of Tyrone Elementary School in Fayette County, past NAESP Zone 4 Director, and the 2011 NAESP National Distinguished Elementary Principal of the Year from Georgia. Heaberlin is the GAMSP state representative and federal relations director for NAESP, principal of Lee Middle School in Coweta County, and the 2011 NAESP National Distinguished Middle Level Principal of the Year from Georgia.

The five Georgia principals took the critical needs of Georgia schools directly to lawmakers on Capitol Hill on July 14 during meetings with legislators to discuss five legislative recommendations for the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA):

1.       Provide dedicated funding for principal professional development in early childhood education;

2.       Provide funding to develop and implement standards-based mentor training programs for principals;

3.       Require professional development and mentoring as a part of any school improvement plan;

4.       Support states and local education agencies in developing fair, objective, and comprehensive principal evaluation systems;

5.       Add a definition of “core competencies of effective school leadership” to Title IX of ESEA to recognize what a principal should know and be able to do.

The Georgia delegation of principals called on Congress to provide new policies that will strengthen schools and the principalship by providing funding for professional development for principals, especially focusing on early education and mentoring, providing funding to develop an effective principal evaluation system, and recognizing the core competencies of school leadership.  The Georgia state leaders met with the 13 Georgia Members of the United States House of Representatives and their staff including Representatives Rob Woodall, Tom Graves, Jack Kingston, John Lewis, Paul Broun, Lynn Westmoreland, Henry Johnson, Tom Price, Dr. Phil Gingrey, David Scott, Austin Scott, Sanford Bishop, and John Barrow along with Georgia’s two U. S. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.

The feeling on Capitol Hill was that ESEA will not be reauthorized this year.  However, the Congress will address “bits and pieces” of legislation concerning No Child Left Behind this year with recommendations from U.S. Secretary of Education Arni Duncan.