We had two big wins in the run up to a two-week congressional recess: The Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to the Supreme Court and President Biden extended the pause on student loan payments through the end of August.
Your voices and advocacy played an important role in these victories. I thank you for all that you have done—and urge you to keep it up.
In addition, several of our amazing “aspiring educators” met virtually with their senators and representatives. Among other things, they discussed solutions to the educator shortage like the Teacher, Principal, and Leader Residency Access Act.
NEA member Samantha Hull, a school librarian in central Pennsylvania, testified before a House subcommittee on the wrongheadedness of book bans and censorship. As you and I know, this is an intentional distraction—an effort by some politicians to avoid addressing the issues that parents, students, and educators actually care about.
“I recently asked my five-year-old son why books are important,” Samantha Hull testified. “Here is what he told me: ‘The books are important because they help me learn because I can see new words, I can meet new people and I can go to places I haven’t been. They teach us to solve problems.’”
Like the little boy who proclaimed that the emperor wore no clothes, he spoke the truth. These politicians are not protecting children, as they claim. They are trying to whitewash our nation’s history—to erase the names, faces, and stories comprising the fabric of America. But we won’t let them!
In solidarity,
Marc Egan
Government Relations Director
National Education Association
This bipartisan bill can help address the educator shortage—critical even before the pandemic—by making programs that offer on-the-job experience more accessible and affordable.
Email the U.S. Department of Education to advocate for the end of corporate charter schools and to support accountability and transparency for all schools taking our tax dollars.
CHEER: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) joined all 50 Democratic senators in voting to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court
CHEER: The Biden administration extended the moratorium on student loan payments and interest accrual through August 31.
CHEER: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) introduced the Educators Expense Deduction Modernization Act of 2022, which would increase the current $250 deduction to $1,000 and index it to inflation.
