The National Education Association has released a new policy paper on the Federal role in education, GREAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR EVERY STUDENT BY 2020: Achieving A New Balance In The Federal Role To Transform America's Public Schools.

NEA proposes that a "new balance" be created in the partnership among federal, state, and local leaders and that we collectively commit to making every public school great by the year 2020. The paper and related materials are available at:

www.nea.org/lac/federalrole.html.

The paper contends that Federal leaders have an opportunity to recalibrate the role of the federal government. Schools, districts, and states – not the federal government-are the primary engines of public school transformation. But to accelerate the pace of transformation, states and districts need well-designed federal policies to supply the balance of support necessary to deliver quality educational programs for every student in our public schools.

The paper proposes that the federal role in K-12 education be focused on the following six priorities:

1. Support the profession of teaching as a desired and complex field of study and practice.
2. Federal guarantee for the sustained funding of Title I and IDEA and for special needs populations.
3. Equal access to educational services and supports.
4. Support state-led public school transformation through authentic accountability that is publicly transparent.
5. Establish high-quality educational research and development as essential to educational improvement.
6. Support innovation and best practices to accelerate state-based improvement efforts and improve student learning based on proven teaching strategies and programs grounded in sound teaching and learning research.