Update: Glenn Thrush's blog post at Politico, Last miinute "hiccup" on school money, suggests that the letter has had an impact:
The conference committee delay was the result of an ongoing "hiccup" over the size of school construction funding, according to three Democratic aides with knowledge of the situation.
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are now meeting in the Speaker's office to hash out the details, according to one staffer who added: "We'll get there."
Leave it to Washington insiders to call concerns over funding schools a "hiccup."[end update]
We just received this press release and letter [pdf file available here] from the Walz office:
WALZ LEADS FIGHT IN HOUSE TO RESTORE EDUCATION FUNDING TO RECOVERY PACKAGE
Says education funding is key to saving and creating jobs in local communities
(Washington, DC) – Today, Congressman Walz continued the fight to restore crucial education funding in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Walz sent an urgent letter he authored to the leadership of the House of Representatives, asking them to restore education funding in the recovery package to the levels included in the House-passed bill. Walz’s letter was co-signed by 46 of his colleagues.
“Well-educated citizens are the backbone of a successful economy,” said Walz. “The House-passed recovery package included targeted investments in education that will help save and create thousands of jobs now, while also laying the foundation for our country’s future economic growth.”
“Modernizing our schools and colleges is a common-sense way we can quickly create jobs while helping our students get a 21st century education,” continued Walz.
“Giving our children a better learning environment, state of the art laboratories, and other upgraded facilities through fixing our school buildings, giving our low-income children a leg up through Title I funding, and giving our children with disabilities the assistance they deserve is not only the right thing to do for our local economies, but the right thing to do for future generations,” concluded Walz.
Walz said he believes that it is time to try a bottom-up approach to the economic recovery of our nation. He said that funding for Title I, state fiscal stabilization, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Head Start and school repairs and improvements is an approach to stabilizing our economy that will work because it restores confidence one parent, one neighborhood, one school district, one community at a time. This approach both saves jobs in our schools and creates construction jobs through school renovation projects.
Photo: Tim Walz in his old classroom, courtesy of the New York Times.
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