NSBAC to presidential candidates: Make education a priority

The National School Boards Action Center (NSBAC) has released an election year message to President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, emphasizing the importance of education as a national priority in the years ahead.

“Having a world-class education that is second to none requires that all our people and all sectors of government, business, and civic life place a high priority on K-12 education,” states “Making Education a Major Priority: An Election Year Message to President Obama and Governor Romney.” (For more information, visit nsbac.org.)

“To provide the leadership that’s necessary, no person in America commands the attention of the nation more than the president of the United States. That’s why school board members believe that over the next four years, our President must make strengthening our nation’s schools a foremost priority and compellingly convey to the American people the urgency of the mission and their part to achieve it.”

In addition to emphasizing the importance of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the NSBAC document encourages federal leadership in seven key areas of education: standards and assessments, accountability, local capacity building, teacher/principal effectiveness, preschool education, addressing student diversity and school systems with high needs, and federal education funding.

Included are recommendations to improve federal policy in helping school boards meet their responsibilities to the schoolchildren of their communities.

A new 501(c)(4) organization founded by NSBA, NSBAC also has released an in-depth analysis of the candidates’ views that can help school board members make a more-informed choice in next month’s national elections.