Advocacy Alert! Twitter followers: Help #StopCISA

If you are on Twitter, please consider advocating to protect privacy and stop the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. See the Electronic Frontier Foundation website for background and details on how to help.

Thanks in advance for any advocacy you can provide!

 

Senate Passes Every Student Succeeds Act!

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed the Senate on December 9^th with a vote of 84-12! The bill will now go to the President.

Senators Cardin and Mikulski both voted for the bill. Please take a moment to thank them.

Thank you for your advocacy efforts!

 

House Passes Every Student Succeeds Act! Advocacy Alert: Ask Senators to Vote Yes

The House passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on Wednesday, December 2^nd, with the inclusion of many of the school library provisions! More information, including a link to a list of the school library provisions, is available on the District Dispatch, or view the  American Library Association (ALA) Press Release.

Many thanks to everyone who called, emailed or tweeted their Representative in the House! Congressmen Cummings, Delaney, Edwards, Hoyer, Sarbanes and Van Hollen all voted for the bill. Please take a moment to thank your Representative. (Congressman Ruppersberger did not vote.)

Advocacy Alert! The bill now moves to the Senate, where a vote is expected to occur next week. Please take the time to contact Senators Mikulski and Cardin asking them to vote Yes on the ESSA Conference Report. The American Library Association (ALA) Engage site has additional information needed to call or email the Senators. You may also tweet the Senators.

Thanks in advance for any advocacy you can provide!

 

Advocacy Alert! Ask the House to Vote YES for School Libraries!

School Libraries need your help with the reauthorization of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA)! Please ask your Representative in the House to vote Yes on the Every Student Succeeds Act. See the American Library Association (ALA) Engage site for talking points and to call or email your Representative. You may also tweet your Representative.

Background information: After months of intense behind the scenes work in Congress, it looks like things are finally coming to a head with the reauthorization of the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA). As you may have read in past District Dispatch posts, school libraries fared extremely well in S.1177, the Every Child Achieves Act, but not so well in H.R.5, the House’s Student Success Act. As discussed on September 1st, the House and Senate had work to do to meld their two, quite different bills. This week the House and Senate appointed conferees to do just that. The resulting “Conference Committee” has hammered out the final version of a unified bill (called a “Conference Report”) that both chambers of Congress must now consider in an up or down vote, no amendments permitted. The House is expected to vote on this final Conference Report later this week.

Thanks in advance for any advocacy you can provide!