The union’s work ensuring funding for students often takes members, leadership, and staff to Annapolis to make the case before Maryland legislators. However, a special assignment to secure federal funding brought BTU PSRP Chapter Chair and AFT-Maryland Executive Board member
Sandra Davis to Washington, D.C. to lobby for more funding for the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Currently the act is only funded federally at about 15%. Davis and other AFT members from across the nation met with Congressional leaders to get that funding to 40%. States are responsible for providing the rest of the funding for IDEA that the federal government doesn’t provide.
Davis described a warm reception from legislators, particularly Maryland legislators Congressman Elijah Cummings and Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin. Davis is an AFT delegate to the American Association of Classified School Employees. That organization is made up of a cross-section of educational professionals who work to ensure teachers, paraprofessionals, and educators across the nation get the resources they need to serve their student populations.
2019-02-26
