Kate Simkowiak

Javits

Message from The Washington Coalition For Gifted Education – June 7th

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Fiscal Year 2013:  Senate Subcommittee Meets June 12

The Senate subcommittee that handles education funding will be meeting on June 12 to recommend federal education program and research funding levels for fiscal year 2013.

As you know, the Javits Gifted & Talented Students Education Act (Javits) was de-funded in fiscal year 2011. This means that there is no funding for the National Research Center on the Gifted & Talented, and there are no 5-year grants to fund projects that yield best practices in identifying and serving underserved gifted students.

It’s a difficult funding environment – the impulse in Congress is to reduce, not increase spending for education. That’s why your messages to your Senators are so important. It’s critical that policymakers hear from the gifted education community about the need to support advanced students in federal education programs and research so that ALL students can make learning gains each year.

Please contact your Senators before noon on Tuesday, June 12, and urge him or her to make excellence a federal priority by supporting gifted and talented students, and the research needed to develop best classroom practices for this population of learners, in the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill.

Gifted Education Supporters – Please Contact Your U.S. Representative and Senators by Today, March 16th

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As you may recall, the Javits funds were discontinued last year. Losing this important national research funding will continue to create negative consequences across the country.

The National Association For Gifted Children is asking you to contact your US Representative and Senators TODAY (March 16) and urge them to support $7.5 million in funding for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act*.

Click here for Congressional contact information and a sample message.

*The Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act is the sole federal program dedicated to exploring strategies to identify and serve gifted and talented students, especially those who have been under-represented in gifted education programs. The program, which supported the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented as well as school-based research grants, was de-funded in fiscal year 2011. School districts and teachers across the country have used – and continue to use – the research results generated by the Javits program to support gifted students in the classroom and to develop and improve their gifted education services and programs. It’s critical to gifted and talented students, and those who have not been formally identified as gifted, that the Congress restores the research program so that we can continue developing and disseminating best practices in instruction and identification procedures.

More information: http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nagc/members.pdf