Majority of Americans want President to use Veto Power
82.7 percent of Americans support a presidential veto of legislation containing unnecessary Congressional spending
The Council for Retirement Security (CRS), a program of the nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots citizens organization Our Generation, has released a survey that found that 82.7 percent of respondents support a presidential veto to prevent Congress from spending money from the Social Security Trust Fund on other government programs.
As part of its mission to improve the lives of senior citizens through awareness and advocacy, CRS mailed more than six million questionnaires on a variety of issues noted Rita Smith, the organization’s executive director. “One of the program’s main goals is to make sure the federal government is able to keep its promise to hardworking Americans. People who paid into the Social Security system should be able to receive the benefits they have earned,” Smith stated. “Unfortunately, these benefits are being threatened by Washington’s wasteful spending on pork barrel projects, our growing national debt and profligate deficit spending. President Obama should listen to the overwhelming majority of Americans who think he should use his veto power to stop wasteful Congressional spending.”
Smith said the use of the veto, which President Obama did not use in his first year in office, is the only way to prevent Congress from adding “earmarks” for special interests onto the hefty $3.8 trillion fiscal year 2011 budget the White House recently sent to Capitol Hill. “This budget already contains a $100 billion increase in spending, and we simply can’t afford for Congress to ladle more unnecessary pork on top,” she added.
Smith’s group also urges President Obama to take more measures to curb out-of-control spending. In particular, CRS also supports the President’s call in his State of the Union address for a freeze on discretionary spending with statutory spending caps — as well as veto any expenditure exceeding that limit. “President Obama should keep his campaign promise to reduce earmarks or eliminate them altogether,” Smith said.
CRS is a program of Our Generation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 2009 to research, educate and promote long-term free market solutions to today’s public policy concerns.
U.S. Government rejoins worldwide consensus on reproductive health
Health and Development Groups Applaud Clinton Speech; Call for Action
A broad coalition of organizations representing millions of Americans applauded statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the United States unequivocally supports the worldwide consensus that achieving universal access to reproductive health is critical for individual health, family well-being, broader economic development and a healthy planet.
In a speech today at the State Department, Secretary Clinton declared the U.S. government’s renewed support and dedication to reaching the health and development goals laid out in the International Conference on Population Development and other related UN agreements, including the Millennium Development Goals.
The Secretary said that “women’s health is essential to the prosperity and health of all people,” and that the U.S. has rejoined with all governments to “make the access to reproductive healthcare a basic right.”
During the groundbreaking 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, 179 nations laid out an ambitious plan of action to improve health and achieve sustainable development by focusing on individual health needs and human rights, especially for women and girls.
Countries agreed to achieve universal access to reproductive health services by the year 2015, a target reaffirmed in the Millennium Development Goals. Reproductive health services include voluntary contraception that is affordable and safe, sex education programs to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and programs that improve maternal and child health.
“The United States was a major architect of the 1994 Cairo agreement, but U.S. funding for international family planning programs, a major component of reproductive health services, has fallen 23 percent in real dollars since its high in 1995,” said Suzanne Ehlers, Interim President of Population Action International. “Today’s statement by Secretary Clinton marks a return to U.S. leadership on international family planning.”
Investments in reproductive health programs have saved lives and delivered real results. In Mexico, the infant mortality rate fell by 70% between 1970 and 2005, as the use of modern contraceptives nearly doubled. Similar results have been seen in Bangladesh, Egypt, Thailand, and elsewhere.
Conversely, inadequate funding for reproductive health and family planning programs hold grave consequences for women and families. One woman dies needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth every minute of every day, and six million more suffer injury, illness or disability. Each year, between 70 to 80 million unintended pregnancies occur in the developing world.
To meet the unmet need for family planning and achieve the goal of achieving universal access to reproductive health, the coalition of non-profit organizations calls on the Obama Administration to:
– Ensure that the new Global Health Initiative retain a strong focus on interventions to prevent unintended pregnancy, promote women’s health and save women’s lives.
– Ensure that greater access to contraception and reproductive health care remains a high priority within any restructuring of the U.S. government’s foreign assistance program so that women, men and youth can access a comprehensive range of reproductive health services no matter where they are accessing care.
– Work with the U. S. Congress to fund international family planning programs at $1 billion, to reverse a decade of inadequate funding, and eliminate punitive legislative restrictions that continue to tie-up the U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“Poll after poll has shown that a majority of Americans across the ideological divide support family planning programs and proven investments in women’s health,” said Tamara Kreinin, Executive Director of Women and Population at the United Nations Foundation. “I hope that Secretary Clinton’s speech is a signal to everyone that the U.S. government is done with political theater and instead will focus on the important work of saving lives.”
Source: CEDPA
10,000 companies prepare to start low carbon diet plans on Jan. 1
President Obama and the EPA are gearing up to put the nation on a low-carbon diet and their strategy would do Weight Watchers proud: Count first, cut later.
The counting begins on Jan. 1, 2010 when some 10,000 companies and other entities, including municipalities and even some universities, must start measuring their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
And while it’s uncertain when mandatory cuts will be announced – and whether Congress or the EPA will act first – the law firm of Plunkett Cooney said today that polluters might want to start dieting sooner rather than later because their GHG emissions, down to the plant level, will become part of the public record after March 31, 2011.
“New regulations to reduce carbon emissions are coming but public scrutiny will come first,” said Plunkett Cooney Senior Attorney. “Companies need to understand that from the standpoint of government regulation and public opinion, the debate about global warming is over. That means it’s time for them to develop sustainability plans and carbon reduction strategies before regulators, environmental advocates, shareholders and other groups force them to act.”
According to Mikalonis, entities that annually generate or emit at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, which includes gases such as methane, nitrous oxide or several fluorinated gases, must measure and report their emissions to the EPA or face fines of up to $37,500 per day for each violation. The reporting threshold is equivalent to the annual GHG emissions from approximately 4,600 passenger vehicles.
Entities covered under the new rules include fossil fuel-fired power plants, landfills, fuel production facilities, chemical plants, steel and aluminum works, cement factories and large livestock operations. Data collection for motor vehicle and engine manufacturers begins in 2011.
“The reporting rules will drive a lot of transparency and allow company-to-company and plant-to-plant comparisons,” Mikalonis pointed out. “They will create public relations issues and potential legal problems for some companies, especially if they have been marketing themselves as ‘green’ when the emissions report says otherwise. But they also may speed up the adoption of energy-saving technologies, which can flow straight to the bottom line.”
In Michigan, carbon dioxide accounts for the vast majority of GHG emissions, which are due in large part to burning fossil fuels for transportation and electricity. Methane is the next largest contributor, mostly from the anaerobic decay of solid waste in landfills. Nitrous oxide, the third largest contributor, comes chiefly from agricultural soil management and mobile source combustion.
In 2002, a study conducted for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality estimated per capita GHG emissions in Michigan were 6.2 million metric tons of carbon equivalents (MMTCE), which is slightly below the national average.
In terms of mandatory GHG cuts, Mikalonis said new rules are a fait accompli now that the EPA has said that rising levels are a danger to present and future populations. Companies must therefore decide how they want to influence the regulatory process.
“The EPA is obligated to enact rules to drive down greenhouse gas emissions if Congress does not act,” Mikalonis said. “Congress must decide if it is willing to compromise on issues like carbon cap and trade and energy taxes, or accept the risk that EPA may implement ‘command and control’ solutions. Businesses may prefer a mix of voluntary and legislative solutions and that approach should inform their overall sustainability strategy.”
Source: Plunkett Cooney
The Worst Scandal of 2009: Big money in Politics
What was the biggest scandal of 2009?
Blagojevich trying to sell a Senate seat? Senators, governors, and their mistresses? Allegations that lobbyists were lining up defense earmarks in exchange for straw donations?
No, the biggest scandal of 2009 was that the entire pay-to-play system that dominates Washington and occupies Congress’ time and attention sidetracked bold policies.
One year after President Obama was swept into office on a ticket of change, a wall of big money from the health interests, banks, and Big Oil thwarted, slowed, or deep-sixed legislation in Washington. Special interests were on track to spend $3.3 billion to shape policy outcomes, according to a recent story in Politico. Despite the voters’ mandate for change, the underlying problem of Washington – what author and Washington Post reporter Robert Kaiser calls “too damn much money” – remained unaltered and in many ways, more powerful than ever before.
The bottom line is that America will not see the significant change that a majority of people are demanding until we change the way we pay for political campaigns by getting special interests out of the business of paying for our elections.
“Yes we can” has been blocked by “no you don’t.”
Here are some facts to consider:
The health care debate is a perfect example of all that is wrong.
Everyone agrees health care must be made more affordable, and that more people need coverage. But with the health care industry spending more than $1 million a day this year to lobby for their bottom line, and contributing more than $200 million to candidates for Congress in the 2008 election cycle and first nine months of 2009, it’s not a surprise that reform proposals were watered down.
At the beginning of December, the U.S. House passed legislation to reform the financial regulatory industry.
The vote came fifteen months after the collapse of the financial sector and the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street banks. Reform of Wall Street shouldn’t have been so hard — these firms exploited a weak regulatory regime to wreak havoc on our economy — but throughout 2009, financial, real estate, and insurance interests poured $85 million in campaign contributions into Washington, D.C. They succeeded at watering down sections of the House bill, and have declared all out war on the Senate bill.
As the climate change conference in Copenhagen comes to a close, President Barack Obama’s hands were tied not just by China and India’s unwillingness to negotiate far-reaching agreements.
He was also hemmed in by the politics of passing climate legislation through the U.S. Senate – and the stranglehold that Big Oil and coal companies have over our elected officials. The energy sector has contributed more than $4.5 million to Senators just this year – an off-election year. Senators like Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) have declared that any action on climate change in the Senate faces an uncertain future. Inhofe has received more than $1.2 million in contributions from oil and gas interests during his career.
The swamp of special interest money is rising in Washington and Congress needs a way out.
The Solution: The Fair Elections Now Act
One year later, it’s become clear that change doesn’t come simply with the election of a new president or new members of Congress. To dramatically change the way Washington works we need to change the way campaigns are financed in this country.
It’s time for the Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752, H.R. 1826), legislation that would sever the ties between big money campaign contributors and members of Congress. With Fair Elections, candidates would be able to run a competitive race for congressional office with a blend of small dollar donations and limited public funds. Sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), this voluntary system would put people in office unencumbered by special interest influence. In addition to Rep. Larson, the House bill has the broad bipartisan and cross-caucus support of 124 members.
There have been a lot of political scandals and intrigue in Washington this year, but the worst of them all is the sordid impact of money in our political process. The scandal is what is legally permitted day in, day out, in Washington, D.C. It is time to change the system and pass the Fair Election Now Act.
www.fairelectionsnow.org.
Source: Common Cause and Public Campaign
New law protects consumers against illegal billing practices
AARP urges families to review phone bills over the holidays
The holidays are a time of hustle and bustle – and now AARP is urging Illinoisans to add another critical item to their holiday to-do lists. As families come together for the holidays, AARP is urging people to review their phone bills, particularly bills of elderly friends, family, and neighbors, who may be paying too much — and needlessly — for phone services.
Many Illinois consumers have paid untold amounts of money for phone services or products they did not even order or authorize — a growing and illegal practice known as ‘cramming.’ However, a new Illinois law will help protect consumers against this illegal practice and will help to drive down costs for individuals in a tough economy.
“Access to affordable telephone service is critical for older adults, many of whom live alone and may not have access to other forms of communication,” said Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois Senior State Director. “That is why it is also critical that older adults, and all consumers, be protected against illegal practices that result in wrongfully inflated phone bills.”
The law fights cramming practices by requiring third party verification on charges placed on telephone bills. Third party charges may include charges for services such as three-way calling, voicemail, and caller ID. Parties that charge for services or products on a consumer’s bill must now confirm the consumer has requested the service, and must also record the phone call. Records will also be maintained by the service provider for at least two years.
“We are urging families to take a few minutes to review their phone bills this holiday season and make sure they are not a victim of this deceptive practice,” Gallo added.
If you feel that you have been charged unfairly for telephone services, please contact your telephone service provider. You may also contact the Illinois Attorney General’s Senior Citizens Consumer Fraud Hotline at 1-800-243-5377, or 1-800-964-3013 (TTY).
Source: AARP Illinois
Recovery Act keeping Rroughly 189,000 Pennsylvanians out of poverty in recession
Investments Have Boosted Economy, Saved and Created Jobs
Along with boosting the economy and preserving jobs, seven provisions of the federal economic recovery act are also keeping about 189,000 Pennsylvanians from falling into poverty this year, according to a new study from the Washington, DC-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), as a whole, is likely keeping many more Pennsylvanians out of poverty, since these seven provisions account for only about one-fourth of the act’s total funding.
Pennsylvania was one of 11 states to see a statistically significant increase in the official poverty rate from 2007 to 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. In 2008, 1.5 million Pennsylvanians – 12% of the population – were living below the official poverty level.
“These are difficult ecnomic times, but the recovery act has kept things from being much worse, as this study shows,” said Sharon Ward, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. “Thousands of Pennsylvania families are getting help making ends meet despite the worst recession in decades.”
Act Includes Expanded Food Stamps, Tax Credits for Workers, Jobless Benefits
The study examined the following seven provisions of the recovery act:
– a new Making Work Pay Tax Credit of up to $400 for workers ($800 for a couple) earning up to $95,000 (up to $190,000 for a couple);
– an expanded Child Tax Credit for lower-income working families with children;
– an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, including increased tax-credit benefits for a working family with three or more children and for married families to lessen the marriage penalty the EITC can otherwise impose;
– additional weeks of emergency unemployment compensation benefits (paid after a worker’s 26 weeks of regular state unemployment benefits expire);
– an additional $25 per week for unemployed workers to supplement their unemployment benefits;
– a $250 one-time payment to elderly people and people with disabilities who receive Social Security, SSI, or veterans’ benefits; and
– an increase in food stamp benefit levels.
The findings of the report should be instructive for federal policymakers as they consider additional efforts to create jobs and counter the recession, said Arloc Sherman, author of the report.
“Congress agreed to extend the extra unemployment benefits through February,” said Sherman. “But with unemployment likely to remain high for some time, it will need to extend them further. Congress should also extend the act’s tax credits next year so they continue to boost the economy and help families.”
Researchers lacked the data to examine other recovery act elements that are likely fighting poverty as well, such as funding for health care and child care.
Recovery Act Also Helping Economy and Jobs
Along with stemming the increase in poverty during the recession, the recovery act is also boosting the economy and preserving jobs, the study notes.
“When Pennsylvanians spend the extra food stamp or jobless benefits they get from the recovery act in local stores, that helps those stores stay in business and retain their workers,” said Kathy Fisher of Public Citizens for Children and Youth in Philadelphia. “It’s a win-win for families hit hard by the recession and for our state’s economy.”
More than stimulus bills passed in earlier recessions, the recovery act was designed to reach a wide range of low- and middle-income Americans, the report notes. Policymakers included extensive help for low-income families not only because they stand the greatest risk of hardship during recessions but also because they are the most likely to spend quickly whatever money they receive, thereby pumping it into the economy.
Study Uses Broader Definition of Poverty
To determine the poverty-fighting impact of the seven provisions, the researchers used a broad poverty measure, which the National Academy of Sciences has recommended and a wide array of analysts favor, rather than the government’s official measure of poverty. The official measure considers only a family’s cash income, the report explains. Thus, it would miss many of the recovery act provisions that provide non-cash benefits, such as extra food stamps or tax credits.
The report is available at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3035.
Source: The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Thomson Reuters survey: Most Americans support public option in healthcare reform legislation
but Are Skeptical Healthcare Will Improve in 2010
A majority of Americans support a “public option” in healthcare reform legislation, but most lack confidence that the cost, quality, value or accessibility of medical care will improve in the next year, according to a survey released today by Thomson Reuters.
Sixty percent of survey respondents said they believe a public option should be included in final healthcare reform legislation. Only about one in five, however, believes the cost, quality or value of care will improve in the next 12 months. Twenty-three percent said they expect access to care to improve.
The results are from a telephone survey of 2,999 households conducted from November 9-17 — a segment of the Thomson Reuters PULSE Healthcare Survey, the largest and longest-running survey of its kind. Each year, PULSE polls more than 100,000 U.S. households about healthcare behaviors, attitudes and utilization.
Here are the key findings:
– 18 percent of survey respondents said they expect to spend less on healthcare a year from now.
– 21 percent believe the quality of care will improve in the next 12 months.
– 18 percent believe the value of care delivered will be better in a year.
– 23 percent believe it will be easier for people to receive the care they need a year from now.
– 60 percent of Americans believe a public option should be included in final healthcare legislation. There are sharp divisions, however, along party lines: 86 percent of Democrats support the public option versus 57 percent of Independents and 33 percent of Republicans.
The survey is nationally representative and the margin of error is 1.8 percent.
Source: Thomson Reuters
Obama Administration delays internet gambling ban implementation
Congressional Hearing Scheduled on Legislation to Regulate the Industry
Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke announced agreement to delay for six months, until June 1, 2010, required compliance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). The move blocks regulations to implement the legislation which requires the financial services sector to comply with ambiguous and burdensome rules in an attempt to prevent unlawful Internet gambling transactions. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) has scheduled a House Financial Services Committee hearing for December 3 to discuss Internet gambling legislation and the opportunity to effectively regulate the industry.
“We see this move by the Obama Administration as a decision to halt implementation of UIGEA in order to give Congress time to enact an alternative approach of regulating Internet gambling instead of prohibiting it,” said Michael Waxman, spokesperson of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “This decision is the latest evidence that momentum is building for a shift in policy and a rewrite of U.S. Internet gambling laws to provide for regulation and taxation instead of prohibition. Over the next six months, Congress should act to create a framework that regulates Internet gambling to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed revenue for critical federal and state government programs.”
Representatives of the financial services industry, including the Chamber of Commerce and Financial Services Roundtable, have stated publicly that rules to implement UIGEA are ambiguous, burdensome and unlikely to stop Americans from gambling online. In testimony before Congress in April 2008, Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System representatives acknowledged the challenges U.S. financial institutions will face in attempting to comply with UIGEA, especially given the chance of multiple interpretations of what may or may not be illegal Internet gambling activity. Recognizing the danger UIGEA posed to the U.S. banking system, the House Financial Services Committee voted in 2008 to suspend UIGEA implementation.
The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2267), legislation introduced by Chairman Frank in May 2009, would establish a framework to permit licensed gambling operators to accept wagers from individuals in the U.S. The legislation, which has attracted a bipartisan group of more than 60 co-sponsors, mandates a number of significant consumer protections including safeguards against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft. Additional provisions in the legislation reinforce the rights of each state to determine whether to allow Internet gambling activity for people accessing the Internet within the state and to apply other restrictions on the activity as determined necessary.
The Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (H.R. 2268), introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) as a companion to Chairman Frank’s bill, is anticipated to generate nearly $42 billion over 10 years for the U.S. Treasury primarily through ensuring that applicable individual and corporate taxes and license fees on regulated Internet gambling activities are collected.
Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative
The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative promotes the freedom of individuals to gamble online with the proper safeguards to protect consumers and ensure the integrity of financial transactions. For more information on the Initiative, visit www.safeandsecureig.org. The Web site provides a means by which individuals can register support for regulated Internet gambling with their elected representatives.
Source: Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative
Healthy oceans can help save us from climate change
International coalition advances marine conservation as part of the solution to climate change
A large international coalition today urged the United States to support marine conservation options that will help mitigate climate change.
The ‘Blue Climate Coalition,’ comprised of sixty-six conservation groups and interests and over 150 marine scientists and professionals, from 33 countries, issued communications addressed to President Obama and the United States Senate.
Together, the coalition letters request the option for marine conservation solutions to climate change to be considered in national climate change legislation and international climate change treaties, and support for marine science research that further explores this concept.
Eminent oceanographer and conservationist, Dr. Sylvia Earle, endorsed the letters as the first scientist to sign-on. In her latest book, ‘The World Is Blue,’ Earle reveals how dangerous oceanic change threatens the very existence of life on Earth and argues for renewable strategies that safeguard the natural systems that sustain us.
News of the coalition’s effort made its way to Hollywood, and to the notice of Gilles Marini, most recently of ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ Gilles signed the letters as a supporter of healthy oceans.
Philippe, Jr., and Alexandra Cousteau, grandchildren of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, signed-on, representing their respective conservation organizations EchoEarth International and Blue Legacy International.
A wide range of interests were represented in the coalition letters: environmental conservation, climate change education and advocacy, ecosystem restoration, the dive industry, ecotourism and sustainable travel, carbon offsetting, fishing, and scientific research.
Scientific Backing
The coalition’s message is supported by reports released recently by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). UNEP’s ‘Blue Carbon’ report highlights the carbon storage potential of coastal and marine ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and saltwater marsh lands.
The UNEP report found that the restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems and a reduction in the clearcutting of tropical forests could mitigate anthropogenic carbon emissions by up to 25%.
The IUCN report, titled ‘The Ocean and Climate Change,’ finds that failure to recognize the ocean in climate change discussions will have profound consequences for humanity. The report also recommends for additional research to quantify the carbon value of ocean ecosystems. This recommendation is echoed in the coalition letters, to ensure full scientific backing any future natural ocean carbon policies.
“Utilizing the natural carbon functions of both the green and blue biospheres of our planet is an option that we simply cannot afford to ignore if we are serious about tackling climate change and making the transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy,” said Mark J. Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation and signatory to the coalition letters.
The Urgency of Action
“The United States will play a crucial role in next month’s climate change discussions in Copenhagen,” said Steven J. Lutz, Executive Director of Blue Climate Solutions, the group that organized the letters. “We are asking the United States to show global leadership by advancing solutions for climate change that involve coastal and marine conservation. Many U.S. federal and state agencies are already pursuing actions that could be considered climate mitigation, such as the restoration of coastal and estuarine habitats. These actions need to be continued and encouraged.”
Recognizing the carbon value of healthy coastal and marine ecosystems may be significant for achieving consensus at the Copenhagen negotiations. The health of coastal ocean ecosystems is a critical issue for many developing countries, especially small island developing states. The need to restore the ocean’s natural carbon function could help direct billions of dollars towards conservation efforts, while simultaneously supporting local economies and countering the threat of climate change throughout the globe.
Economic stimulus associated with restoring the ocean’s natural carbon function include funding and investment for activities such as improving water quality, ecosystem restoration, coastal surveying, and the innovation of new environmental monitoring and restoration technologies.
“Restoring the ocean’s natural ocean carbon function is proposed as an alternative to potentially harmful ocean geo-engineering schemes recently discussed in Congress,” said Lutz. “Restoration activities that naturally fix carbon in to forms other than dissolved carbon will also not increase ocean acidification.”
Environmental co-benefits associated with natural ocean carbon solutions include renewed and sustainable fisheries, the conservation of endangered marine species and birds, and the restoration of certain coastal ecosystems. Mangrove forests are considered essential habitat for many fish species, and healthy seagrass meadows are indispensable for endangered sea turtles and manatees.
“Sea turtle hatchlings need healthy coastal and marine ecosystems in order to survive,” said Lutz. “It just so happens that we also need the same healthy ocean ecosystems to survive on this blue planet.”
Source: Blue Climate Coalition
U.S. commitment to gifted students severely lacking
The U.S. education system neglects the needs of our gifted and talented students, leaving the nation ill-prepared to identify and effectively serve high-potential students, a new survey reports.
The report – 2008-2009 State of the States in Gifted Education by the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted finds a fragmented collection of policies and resources that vary greatly between states and local districts and that are almost universally underfunded and under-resourced.
More than a quarter of all states provided no funding for gifted students during the last school year, and most high-potential students are taught by teachers with little to no training in gifted education, the report concludes.
“At a time when other nations are redoubling their commitment to their highest potential students, the United States continues to neglect the needs of this student population, a policy failure that will cost us dearly in the years to come,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, President of the National Association for Gifted Children and Director of the Center for Gifted Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
“The solution to this problem must be a comprehensive national gifted and talented education policy in which federal, state, and local districts work together to ensure all gifted students are identified and served by properly trained teachers using appropriate curriculum,” Robinson added.
A Nationwide Lack of Commitment
Of the states that reported funding for gifted students, per-pupil expenditure varied sharply from $2 to $750 for the 2008-2009 school year.
Only 5 states require teachers to receive any preparation on gifted students before entering the classroom. Even for instructors teaching in specialized gifted programs, only 5 states require annual professional development for them.
“Most gifted students spend the majority of their school days in general education classrooms, receiving little specialized instruction per week. The fact that most states do not require classroom teachers to have any exposure to the unique learning needs of gifted children means the majority of high-potential students are not being taught by appropriately trained teachers,” Robinson noted.
Uneven Services
The report also found that in most states, even those that define giftedness and mandate services, key policies pertaining to gifted education are set exclusively at the local district level.
“The lack of leadership and failure to hold districts accountable for serving gifted students by Washington and the states has produced a largely uneven and inconsistent delivery system, said Nancy Green, NAGC Executive Director. “For every local district making an outstanding commitment to gifted learners, we have scores of districts doing nothing.”
Impact on the Nation
The ramifications of the nation’s underinvestment in gifted education is evidenced in many areas including continued underperformance on international benchmarks, particularly in math, science, and engineering, and in the shortage of qualified workers able to enter professions that require advanced skills.
“Forty years ago, we realized the impact of a sustained commitment to academic excellence when we celebrated the landing of a man on the moon. Future breakthroughs and discovery in science, medicine, and technology will be impossible if we fail to identify and serve today’s brightest young minds. The time to act is now,” Robinson said.
For the full State of the States report, go to: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=5364