NWP Supporters Converge on Capitol Hill

By: Andy Bradshaw
Publication: The Voice, Vol. 9, No. 2
Date: 2004

Summary: More than 200 National Writing Project teachers and site leaders packed the Senate Mansfield Room on the morning of April 1 for the 2004 NWP Spring Meeting kickoff.

More than 200 National Writing Project teachers and site leaders packed the Senate Mansfield Room on the morning of April 1 for the 2004 NWP Spring Meeting kickoff. Featured speakers at the morning gathering included Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), Senator John “Jay” Rockefeller (D-WV), and Representative Dale Kildee (D-MI), all of whom expressed their continued support of NWP.

“Writing is an art on par with the greatest sculptures, art, and music,” said Sen. Byrd, who cited the Bible and recited poetry during a riveting 20-minute speech. “Good writing skills translate into academic success.”

“One of the great things about NWP is that it is bipartisan,” said Alice Johnson Cain, a legislative aide who works with Rep. George Miller (D-CA) on the House Education and Workforce Committee. “That is incredibly important in a year like this when not much is bipartisan.”

Participants spent the afternoon meeting with legislators and their aides to explain the work of the writing project and to encourage them to support continued federal funding of the program in fiscal year 2005. In February, the Bush administration recommended eliminating funding for a number of small education programs including the National Writing Project, making congressional support of the program as essential as ever this year.

Appropriations subcommittees in both the House and Senate are expected to meet in late May to make initial markups for 2005. NWP, which received $17.89 million in 2004, is seeking $30 million in 2005.