Race To The Top Program Threatened, Teacher Jobs In Jeopardy

Last summer, the Obama Administration announced unprecedented funding for education reform in the form of a new program called Race To The Top. The initiative sought to reward schools for retaining good teachers and improving student performance.

Now, funding for Race To The Top may be in jeopardy due to budget cuts, despite heavy objections from the White House and Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The $800 million the program would lose would be used to offset money spent on jobs and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has also argued that the funding continue, there's less support for $100 million scheduled to be cut from the charter school programs. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has made a public appeal to attempt to secure this funding. They're asking all supporters to take the following actions, listed in an e-mail sent out to supporters yesterday by R. Brooks Garber, the alliance's Vice President for Federal Advocacy:

1. Call your Senators and tell them to vote against H.R. 4899. To do this, first text the word C-H-A-R-T-E-R to 30644 and follow the instructions to be automatically connected to your Senator. If you don't use text messaging, call (202) 224-3121 to be connected.

2. Take Action online using our online form. Even if you've already taken action on this, please do so again!

3. Forward this message to your networks, and tell your friends to call their Senators and take action online.

We have made a significant impact on this debate, standing strong in support of education reform, charter schools, and improving our nation's education system. Don't let the work we have already done be defeated! Take action and help us ensure the Senate does not accept the $800 million cuts to education reform funding in the war supplemental, including $100 million in cuts to the Charter Schools Program funding.