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May Capitol Hill Watch Alert

Vote on Amendments to the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (H.R. 1)

The federalization of the public school system seems too high a price to pay for the improvements promised by H.R.1 - No Child Left Behind. (For more information about this bill, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.00001:) The current failures of American public schools are a result of an already robust federal role. Also troubling is the expedential growth of school spending where the President's proposed increase of 11 percent has doubled to 22 percent.

A series of votes are scheduled this week on whether to adopt a "Straight A's" pilot program, which would allow seven states and 28 school districts to spend federal education grants as they want.

Also expected are amendments to let a limited number of states try the voucher concept. One amendment, for example, would allow schools to use federal funds for private school tuition for students who had been victims of crimes within a school.

It is expected that an amendment that would bar federal money from schools that offer students "morning-after" birth control pills will also be offered.

What Can You Do?

Urge your representative to support the above amendments. However, if the amendments for flexibility and choice are stripped from the plan and the federal control and money remain, H.R. 1 ("No Child Left Behind") should be rejected.

Contact Information:

Call your representative and urge him/her to reject the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (H.R. 1).

Capitol Hill Switchboard Numbers: 202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121 (Those numbers will direct you to the Capitol Hill operator. Ask for your representative's office.)

To go to your representative's website, find his E-mail or to find out who your representatives are... http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html

To electronically mail your U.S. House of Representative, go to http://www.house.gov/htbin/wrep_findrep.

Addressing Correspondence:

The Honorable (full name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative (last name):

To view a sample letter to a congressman, go to http://www.americanvoiceinstitute.org/NoChildLeftBehindHouseLetter.htm

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