The Organizations Concerned about Rural Education, OCRE, is a coalition made up of the National Grange and many different types of organizations that include educational, farming, rural, technology, and utility organizations. We are united under the common concern for the economic and educational welfare of rural America. The group is concentrating on several issues, some of which include: revising the funding formula under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (No Child Left Behind) to help eliminate the inequalities of the formula for small schools, rural school building infrastructure, and attracting and maintaining high quality teachers in rural schools.

Background

Under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965 (ESEA), rural schools are at a greater disadvantage compared to the urban schools. If rural schools are not treated equally, then they will continually be behind and may never catch up to urban schools. Rural school building infrastructure is another issue that rural schools shadow in comparison to urban schools. The distribution of funds for the construction and renovation of schools is not distributed equally.

Developing and maintaining high quality teachers is also a major problem for rural America. Many rural schools don’t have the resources to keep high quality teachers, where as urban schools with a larger student base do. If quality teachers go to urban schools, it just widens the gap between rural and urban education barriers. OCRE members work to end these barriers and hope to make the system fair, not only to urban schools, but to rural schools as well. For more information, check out OCRE’s website at www.ruralschools.org/coalition/.

The Obama Administration proposes to place its emphasis on school success rather than failure and sets a goal of ensuring that all students leave high school prepared for college or career, according to its blueprint for revising the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Passed in 2002, NCLB was the most recent rewriting of the ESEA of 1965.

The Administration’s blueprint asks the states to adopt the academic standards proposed by the nation’s governors and state education leaders, and to create accountability systems that recognize student growth and school progress and to ensure that students are prepared for college or to enter the workplace. The administration supports a rigorous and fair accountability system measuring student growth, rewarding schools that accelerate student achievement, and identifying and rewarding outstanding teachers and leaders.

The blueprint also says the accountability system will require states and districts to identify and take rigorous actions in the lowest-performing schools. The administration has proposed a significant investment to help states and districts recognize and reward high-poverty schools and districts that are showing improvement getting their students on this path, using measures of progress and growth.

Under the ESEA blueprint, states, and districts will continue to focus on the achievement gap by identifying and intervening in schools that are persistently failing to close those gaps. For other schools, states and districts would have flexibility to determine appropriate improvement and support options.

Grange Policy

1. The National Grange supports public education and supports the idea of strengthening and improving the system of public education. The National Grange urges Congress to amend the “No Child Left Behind” law so local tax dollars on education are spent more responsibly. Parents should have a choice of schools based on the schools’ performance numbers provided that those parents furnish transportation for the children. We believe that every child should be able to receive a public education, and that the state is responsible for providing said education, which shall include the following: a broad curriculum with emphasis on basic language, physical education, math, and science skills; an opportunity for students to choose either vocational or “college preparatory” training; functional buildings; frequent public reports and accountability of funds; and basic training in agriculture, including the “Ag in the Classroom” program, covering both production and consumption.

4. The National Grange supports affordable telecommunications services for rural schools and libraries.

5. The National Grange supports strong educational standards, but does not believe that the establishment of National Education Standards Testing achieves this goal.

Action Needed

Please e-mail your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators urging them to eliminate the inequalities of the formula for small schools, rural school building infrastructure, and attracting and maintaining high quality teachers in rural schools. Please feel free to cut and paste the following sample letter. If you do not know your Senator’s e-mail addresses, please click here and for your Representative’s e-mail address, please click here.

Sample E-Mail

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact Legislative Program Assistant Molly Thompson by e-mail: mthompson@nationalgrange.org; or by phone 1-888-4GRANGE, ext. 107. Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

The Postal Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on a Postal Service proposal to end carrier street address delivery, collection at blue collection boxes, and incoming mail processing on Saturdays in the United States.  This is one of the most significant changes the Postal Service has ever presented to the Commission.  The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service that it proposes.

Background

The U.S. Postal Service has advised the Postal Regulatory Commission that due to falling mail volumes and revenues it is considering eliminating Saturday mail collection and delivery except for Express Mail and existing post office box service. It submitted 11 pieces of testimony in support of its request. As a result, the Postal Regulatory Commission established Docket N2010-1 to thoroughly review whether the U.S. Postal Service plan to eliminate Saturday delivery should be implemented. The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service it proposes. The Postal Regulatory Commission is an independent federal agency that provides regulatory oversight over the U.S. Postal Service to ensure the transparency and accountability of the Postal Service and foster a vital and efficient universal mail system. According to the Commission’s Chairman, Ruth Y. Goldway, their process will allow for the public to be heard and for all the facts to be considered before he Commission issues its Advisory Opinion.

Commission procedures provide for public, on-the-record hearings to analyze and cross-examine the Postal Service’s “five-day” proposal and supporting evidence. During the process, mail users and interested members of the public may offer supporting or opposing views, both informally and as part of more formal, technical presentations. The Commission will also conduct as many as six field hearings and solicit public comments through its website. Dallas, Sacramento, and Chicago are among the cities the Commission is considering for possible field hearing locations.

The elimination of one mail delivery day is not a new concept. It has been proposed many times and was the subject of extensive congressional review in 1977 and 1980. In 1983, the Congress adopted specific language requiring the Postal Service to maintain six-day delivery. Congress will consider the Commission’s Advisory Opinion as it reviews the Postal Service’s request to change the law.

U.S. Postal Service

Action Needed

The public is invited to share their views via the Commission website in two ways.  You may informally share your views by visiting via the Commission web site, www.prc.gov, and clicking the “ contact PRC” tab to access a convenient online customer service form.  By participating in this manner, your comments will be an informal expression of your views on the Postal Service’s plan. You can also write to the Postal Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Office of Public Affairs and Government Relations, 901 New York Ave., NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC, 20268-0001.

To participate more formally in the process and to file documents to be included in the online public record, you must file a notice of intervention and follow the Commission’s rules of practice and procedure.  The notice of intervention only requires a simple statement of your interest in the case, intent to intervene, along with your name, address, and contact information.   To file a notice of intervention and other relevant documents, interested persons should click the “Filing Online” tab and follow the appropriate instructions.

Sample E-Mail or Letter

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact Legislative Program Assistant Molly Thompson by e-mail: mthompson@nationalgrange.org; or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext. 107. Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

Recently a very damaging, misleading, and inaccurate cartoon that attempted to explain modern dairy farming practices to young children appeared in numerous newspapers across the country. The author of a syndicated children’s column, Jok Church, typically answers children’s science questions in a cartoon question-and-answer format. The question was, “How can a calf have a baby at only 15 months old?”

Background

The comic strip “You Can with Beakman and Jax,”is a nationally syndicated comic distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to more than 300 newspapers nationwide. Please View the comic strip to see the cartoon, question, and answer. Obviously, the answer was full of erroneous and misleading information including: 

The Delegates at the 143rd Annual Convention of the National Grange adopted the following policy related to responding to false, misleading, and inaccurate statements about modern agricultural practices utilized by today’s family farmers and ranchers:

“ The National Grange supports public relation programs that disseminate accurate information on the efficiency and productivity of American agriculture as well as the contributions it has made in providing an adequate supply of food and fiber, and the important role the food and agricultural industry plays in the nation’s economy. A coalition of farm and commodity organizations working together on common problems is in the best interest of agriculture and rural communities….We will cooperate with and support the efforts of other agricultural organizations in their educational programs pertaining to false, unproven, and misleading statements about the production and safety of agricultural commodities in order to present a true picture of environmentally safe farm and ranch best management practices.”

Action Needed

If this comic ran in your local newspaper, please draft a letter to the editor of that paper highlighting the practices on your farm that demonstrate how you care for your animals. If possible, invite the editor to visit your dairy and see, firsthand, the care you provide your cows and the land. This will help you build a relationship with the editor, who may come to you for future stories and news. Please feel free to cut and paste the following sample letter.

Sample Letter or E-Mail

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact Legislative Program Assistant Molly Thompson by e-mail: mthompson@nationalgrange.org; or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext. 107. Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

Little noticed or debated provisions in the national health care reform legislation before Congress would dramatically transform the current MEDPac program from an effective advisory mechanism that helps guide Congressional decision making on issues of Medicare reimbursement into an unaccountable, Executive branch, bureaucratic regulatory agency that would potentially exacerbate existing disparities in health care delivery in farming, rural and tribal communities.

Background

The National Grange is greatly concerned with proposals to change the mission of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPac) from a Congressional advisory body to an executive branch regulatory agency. Transforming MEDPac from an advisory organization to a regulatory agency would place critical decisions related to the payment for, and delivery of, high quality, efficient health care in farming, rural, and tribal communities across the nation in the hands of un-elected, bureaucratic managers in Washington, D.C. rather than patients and their local care providers. It would stifle the critical role of oversight and action regarding disparate impacts that standardized Medicare reimbursement policies often inflict on both patients and providers in rural and other chronically underserved communities that the current MEDPac regime provides for Congress. It would shift the balance of authority for medical public policy decision-making away from the legislative branch, as well as away from doctors and patients, to the executive branch.

The National Grange is very concerned that the MEDPac reforms in the proposed health care legislation will not address the concerns raised by our grassroots delegates for comprehensive health care reform that will serve the interests of patients and providers in remote farming, rural and tribal communities. Specifically, the National Grange is worried that the proposed MEDPac reforms will create a false public policy choice by focusing on cost cutting and short-term savings in the Medicare program at the expense of long-term health outcomes/cost savings and true health reform . This result could quickly lead to rationing of care, thus exacerbating existing health disparities in currently underserved communities. An overarching Federal regulatory authority dictating Medicare reimbursement schedules would inevitably diminish the role of patients and community based health care providers who are on the front lines of finding creative ways to eliminating existing disparities in health care delivery to rural communities. Finally MEDPac reform clearly cedes too much Congressional power to the executive branch.

Grange Policy

At the 143rd annual convention to the National Grange, held last month in Grand Rapids MI, the grassroots delegates from across the nation adopted the following comprehensive policy directives related to the course of health care reform now before Congress.

“Protection of Medicare or current health insurance coverage as they are presently provided with no reduction in coverage must be maintained. Medical decisions should be made by licensed medical professionals based on the needs of the patient.”

Action Needed

Please e-mail your U. S. Senators and Representatives urging them oppose changes in the current MEDPac program as part of any national health care reform. Please feel free to cut and paste the following sample letter. If you do not know your Senators’ e-mail addresses please CLICK HERE to find them.

Sample E-Mail

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact National Grange Program Assistance Molly Thompson by e-mail: mthompson@nationalgrange.org; or by phone 1-888-4GRANGE. Ext. 107.

Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

Status

Currently the U.S. House of Representatives is debating H.R. 1, the FY 11 Continuing Resolution (CR) which must be passed in order for the government to continue operating.  Rep. Scott Garrett’s (R-NJ) amendment to eliminate MAP funding would end a successful program which forms a partnership between non-profit U.S. agricultural trade associations, farmer cooperatives, non-profit state-regional trade groups, small businesses, and USDA to share the costs of overseas marketing and promotional activities. These programs help to open new markets for smaller organizations and co-ops, and help maintain existing level playing fields of access. Although, the House completed the agriculture section of the CR last night, we have to assume that the Garrett Amendment will be offered.

Background

The Market Access Program (MAP), originally known as the Targeted Export Assistance (TEA) Program, was created in the 1985 Farm Bill and uses funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to aid in the creation, expansion, and maintenance of foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. MAP, which is administered by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), forms a partnership between non-profit U.S. agricultural trade associations, farmer cooperatives, non-profit state-regional trade groups, small businesses, and USDA to share the costs of overseas marketing and promotional activities such as consumer promotions, market research, trade shows, and trade servicing. The National Grange strongly urges the administration and Congress to maintain funding for MAP at the existing level of $200 million annually as authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill and opposes any efforts like the Garrett Amendment to eliminate funding for the program.

Grange Policy

As written in our Agriculture Policy Statement contained in the 2009 Journal of Proceedings and backed up by several sections of our enduring trade policy, the movement of agricultural products across our country as well as exports to foreign countries is vital to the economy of our nation.

The National Grange supports legislation or administrative action that will continue to maintain and increase the exporting of agricultural commodities.

The National Grange encourages its members to work through their commodity export promotion organizations on increasing the producers’ participation in export market development. We encour­age all segments of the agricultural community to increase their private investment in export market development for American agricultural commodities.

The National Grange supports integrating and coordinating existing state and federal governments’ export marketing programs, such as the Market Access Program, the Market Promotion Program, and other similar programs that are designed to develop and expand foreign markets for U.S. farm products.

Action Needed

Please email your U. S. Congressman and urge them to oppose the Garrett Amendment which seeks to eliminate MAP funding and the critical benefits to this program provides to our farmers, co-ops and trade groups.

Sample E-Letter:

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact National Grange Program Assistance Grace Boatright by e-mail: gboatright@nationalgrange.org; or by phone 1-888-4GRANGE. Ext. 107.

Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

Status

Currently, the U.S. Senate has scheduled a hearing on H.R. 872 – Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011, which seeks to keep the regulation of insecticides, fungicides and rodenticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungacide, and Rodentacide Act or FIFRA. H.R. 872 passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives with bi-partisan support and will now be heard in the Senate Agriculture Committee early next week.

Background

In early 1970s, Congress enacted both the CWA, to regulate federal waters, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to regulate pesticide reviews, sales and use. Congressional intent as to the interaction of the two laws was clearly spelled out in the House Committee Report for FIFRA in 1971. However, in 2009 the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned EPA’s 2006 rule specifically exempting from Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting of aquatic pesticide applications. EPA is now forced to develop an NPDES permitting system for aquatic pesticides. This one decision nearly doubles the population of entities permitted under CWA. Affected by these NPDES pesticide-use permits will be state agencies, city and county municipalities, parks and recreation managers, utility rights-of-way managers, railroads, roads and highway vegetation managers, mosquito control districts, water districts and managers of canals and other water conveyances, pesticide applicators, farmers, ranchers, forest managers, scientists, and many others.

Never under FIFRA or the CWA has the federal government required a permit to apply pesticides “to, over or near” waters of the U.S. for control of such pests as mosquitoes, forest canopy insects, algae, or invasive aquatic weeds and animals, like Zebra mussel.  

The Problem

H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, would amend FIFRA and CWA to conclusively declare that, under both laws, no permit is required for the labeled use of any registered pesticide . It would instruct EPA and the courts that Congress did not intend other environmental laws to overtake FIFRA by creating duplicative regulatory burdens. On March 31, 2011, H.R. 872 passed the House. The measure will now be heard in the Senate Agriculture Committee early next week.

Action Needed

Please email your U. S. Senator and urge them to vote yes on H.R. 872. It is even more critical to contact your Senator if you live in the following states who have Senators sitting on the Agriculture Committee: Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

Sample E-Letter:

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Action Alert, please contact National Grange Program Assistance Grace Boatright by e-mail: gboatright@nationalgrange.org; or by phone 1-888-4GRANGE. Ext. 107.

Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative Program.

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