AzSIAA Bi-Weekly Newsletter
From the Executive Director: Action Needed - Email and Phone Call on March 14 - Mark your calendars - Your voice must be heard!
Call your Congressman and Senator March 14 (day of the NAFIS Conference Hill visits) with the following message:
Email:
This section of the NAFIS Action Center is very information. Go to the left tab labeled, “Find Officials.” Enter your zip code. The screen opens a Directory to your Federal Officials.
Click on the name of the federal official. A profile page opens up giving you contact information, personal information, background information, political information, staff members and Arizona district offices with staff. Note the name of the scheduler. This is the person who manages the schedule. What a gold mine of information!
Note the political information. Important that the committees are identified. Congressman O’Halleran serves on Agriculture, Armed Services. We have to keep the education issue on his plate.
Larry E. Wallen
Executive Director - ASIAA
Email:
- Follow this link to the NAFIS action center. Your voice, your phone call is needed now! Both chambers reject the elimination of Federal Properties and increase Impact Aid funding: the House proposes a $23 million increase for Basic Support, the Senate proposes an $8 million increase for Basic Support and a $2 million increase for Federal Properties. The NAFIS community must advocate for the higher level of both bills, for a total increase this year of $25 million ($23 million for Basic Support, plus $2 million for Federal Properties). NAFIS goal is a $25 million dollar increase to Impact Aid.
- On the left side of the screen is the “Compose Your Message” tab. Consider changing the subject line to “Support Funding for Holbrook Unified Federally Connected Students,” something catchy. In the body, customize your message to introduce your district or charter (i.e Holbrook receives $4 million annually to replace lost tax dollars because of the federal presence. This funding is critical to the successful education of our students. There is no replacement should this funding be lost). Customize the second paragraph. Be specific to your district or charter. Third paragraph identifies the proposal and can also be used as talking points when Hill visiting. Last paragraph should be catchy. Close with the idea that you are visiting the hill March 14 to expand further on this topic. Close with a catch phrase like, “Support Roadrunner students.” (If you are not visiting the hill March 14, mark your calendar and schedule a phone call to the Congressional offices that day. This makes an “Impact” as well.)
- In the left column enter your email address and ZIP Code. This will identify the US senators and US representatives in your congressional district. Click to open a table to enter your information. Complete the information, edit your information, click to send.
- You will receive an email verification code to your email. Enter the code to send the emails. The code will return to the email address you used when signing.
- You will receive a confirmation of the email. Job well done! Don’t stop, follow up with a phone call to the Senators and your representatives this week.
This section of the NAFIS Action Center is very information. Go to the left tab labeled, “Find Officials.” Enter your zip code. The screen opens a Directory to your Federal Officials.
Click on the name of the federal official. A profile page opens up giving you contact information, personal information, background information, political information, staff members and Arizona district offices with staff. Note the name of the scheduler. This is the person who manages the schedule. What a gold mine of information!
Note the political information. Important that the committees are identified. Congressman O’Halleran serves on Agriculture, Armed Services. We have to keep the education issue on his plate.
Larry E. Wallen
Executive Director - ASIAA
Your March-April edition of IMPACT
Find it via this link!
Thanks,
Bryan Jernigan
Director, Communications
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
Thanks,
Bryan Jernigan
Director, Communications
National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
NAFIS Report on Funding - Check Your Vouchers
Section 7003, FY 2017 Initial Payments – The Department is currently operating under a continuing resolution through April 28, 2017, or until the President signs a final appropriation bill for FY 2017. Due to the critical nature of current year funding to Impact Aid school districts, the Office of Management and Budget has made a substantial percentage of the FY 2016 appropriation available for the Department to distribute. As of February 28, the Department has made initial and interim payments totaling over $706 million to 1,027 LEAs at rates of 80% of LOT and $700 per unit for children with disabilities. No Section 7003(b)(2) payments will be released until after the full appropriation is available.
NAFIS - New Impact Aid Story
Don’t Forget to Bring Faces of Impact Aid Story to Conference
With so much uncertainty in Washington, DC, NAFIS is reviving a practice used during conference time that can be very powerful. It’s easy, but critical your school district participates. Dust off and refresh your “Impact Aid Story,” the one you may already use in meetings with staff in Washington Hill offices. We are calling this effort “Faces of Impact Aid,” and are modeling the project after the very popular “Humans of New York” (HONY) idea. Click here to learn more about HONY.
Our goal for this project is to make a connection between Impact Aid and the communities it serves. Tell us what Impact Aid means to your school district, and illustrate it on a very personal, local level because it’s often local stories that put a face with Impact Aid that mean the most to Hill staffers. When you come to the NAFIS Spring Conference in Washington, DC, we will have a Faces of Impact Aid collection box at our registration desk. Please bring your Impact Aid story (it can fit on one page), and drop it in the box when you pick up your conference materials, or email it ahead of the conference to NAFIS Communications Director Bryan Jernigan (bryan@nafisdc.org).
On the last day of the conference, use your Impact Aid story as an ice breaker in meetings with Hill Staff, along with the NAFIS Impact Aid Talking Points. Your Impact Aid Story may also have a life after you return home! NAFIS staff will feature Impact Aid stories on our social media pages and share them with policy makers.
When filling out the questions below, give detail. Why is Impact Aid important to your district, how do you use it and who does it impact the most?
Finally, attach a picture that illustrates your story. Please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Basic Information 1. Name 4. State 2. Title / Position 5. Email 3. School 6. What is your Federal impaction?
Step 2: Tell Your Impact Aid Story
Your Faces of Impact Aid Story Could Look Like This: Kids in our school district struggled with math at all levels. So, using Impact Aid dollars, we invested in new curricula, purchased new computer aids our kids can use to augment their studies, and implemented ongoing professional development aligned to student standards for all of our mathematics teachers. We even blocked out time for teachers to meet as a team to review student data and progress. We also used Impact Aid funds to hire a math specialist. We are a rural school district, so enticing the best qualified teachers is challenging, but Impact Aid allowed us to be competitive, and it shows. Our kids’ test scores are higher than they have been in the last 10 years, moving up 15 points in the state assessment in just two years.
We’re looking better than ever and our kids are performing beyond expectations!
With so much uncertainty in Washington, DC, NAFIS is reviving a practice used during conference time that can be very powerful. It’s easy, but critical your school district participates. Dust off and refresh your “Impact Aid Story,” the one you may already use in meetings with staff in Washington Hill offices. We are calling this effort “Faces of Impact Aid,” and are modeling the project after the very popular “Humans of New York” (HONY) idea. Click here to learn more about HONY.
Our goal for this project is to make a connection between Impact Aid and the communities it serves. Tell us what Impact Aid means to your school district, and illustrate it on a very personal, local level because it’s often local stories that put a face with Impact Aid that mean the most to Hill staffers. When you come to the NAFIS Spring Conference in Washington, DC, we will have a Faces of Impact Aid collection box at our registration desk. Please bring your Impact Aid story (it can fit on one page), and drop it in the box when you pick up your conference materials, or email it ahead of the conference to NAFIS Communications Director Bryan Jernigan (bryan@nafisdc.org).
On the last day of the conference, use your Impact Aid story as an ice breaker in meetings with Hill Staff, along with the NAFIS Impact Aid Talking Points. Your Impact Aid Story may also have a life after you return home! NAFIS staff will feature Impact Aid stories on our social media pages and share them with policy makers.
When filling out the questions below, give detail. Why is Impact Aid important to your district, how do you use it and who does it impact the most?
Finally, attach a picture that illustrates your story. Please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Basic Information 1. Name 4. State 2. Title / Position 5. Email 3. School 6. What is your Federal impaction?
Step 2: Tell Your Impact Aid Story
- Describe the demographic and/or geographic context relevant for your school district (student population, size of district, rural, percentage of free and reduced lunch, etc.).
- How do you use Impact Aid to support academic achievement and operate your school district?
- Connect your use of Impact Aid to a story that explains how it supports students/ teachers/community, etc.
- What would your school district do with more Impact Aid funding?
Your Faces of Impact Aid Story Could Look Like This: Kids in our school district struggled with math at all levels. So, using Impact Aid dollars, we invested in new curricula, purchased new computer aids our kids can use to augment their studies, and implemented ongoing professional development aligned to student standards for all of our mathematics teachers. We even blocked out time for teachers to meet as a team to review student data and progress. We also used Impact Aid funds to hire a math specialist. We are a rural school district, so enticing the best qualified teachers is challenging, but Impact Aid allowed us to be competitive, and it shows. Our kids’ test scores are higher than they have been in the last 10 years, moving up 15 points in the state assessment in just two years.
We’re looking better than ever and our kids are performing beyond expectations!
Post to Your Calendar
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ASBA - A Day at the Capitol
NAFIS Spring Conference NSBA National Conference The Equity Event 2017 National Johnson-O'Malley Conference NAFIS Federal Outreach Meeting Arizona Charter Schools Association Legal Week ASA Institute for Excellence ASBA Summer Leadership Institute ASA Summer Conference Arizona Charter Schools Association Educator Summit NAESP/NASSP Annual Conference Arizona Charter Schools Association Business Summit |
March 6th, 2017 - Arizona Capitol Museum, Phoenix, Az
March 12th - 14th, 2017 - Washington, DC March 25th - 27th - Denver, CO April 5th, 2017 - Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa April 24th - 26th, 2017 - Albuquerque, NM April 26th - 27th, 2017 - NAFIS Headquarters, Washington, DC May 3rd - 5th, 2017 - ACSA Headquarters, Phoenix, Az June 4th - 7th, 2017 - Little America, Flagstaff, Az June 8th - 10th, 2017 - TBA June 11th - 13th - El Conquistador, Tucson, Az July 2017 July 9th - 11th - Philadelphia, PA Nov 2017, Phoenix, Az |