House Democrats Bring Home Schools First Funding, nearly $184 million in additional K-12 funds expected next year.

This week House Democrats were presented with the 2008 – 2009 projected BEP 2.0 funding numbers which show that, thanks to the Schools First Initiative passed last year, Tennessee’s local schools are estimated to receive $183.2 million in additional funding.

“When we first began the task of improving our K-12 schools in Tennessee, we wanted to do it in a way that wouldn’t put undo burdens on local governments,” said Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington). “Thanks to the Schools First Initiative, we were able to increase education funding by over $340 million last year and nearly $184 million this year, while at the same time reducing the pressure on counties to have to raise their property taxes.”

The projected funding numbers are expected to increase average teacher salaries to $39,000, while the burden on local governments to raise property taxes will continue to be reduced. The total percentage of instructional cost contributed to local school systems by the state will increase next year to 71.5%.

“Thanks to the hard work and effort of legislators, on both sides of the aisle, we were able to pass new legislation that allows lower and middle class students the opportunity to see improvements in their local schools,” said House Education Chairman Les Winningham (D-Huntsville). “We must continue to improve our public education system here in Tennessee, so that every child in our state has a chance at the best education possible.”

Expanding Pre-K to All Children in Tennessee Continues to be a Priority

In addition to increasing K-12 funding by over $340 million, lawmakers last year also added over $25 million for additional pre-kindergarten classrooms, raising the total number of classrooms across the state to 934. Currently over 17,000 students are enrolled in pre-K programs in Tennessee, and this year the House plans to expand classes even further with another $25 million in funding, offering pre-K instruction to all of the over 78,000 four-year-olds in Tennessee.

“We expanded college education through the Tennessee Lottery Hope Scholarship, we continue to expand funding for K-12 schools and this year we hope to give every child in Tennessee, regardless of background, the opportunity to get off on the right foot with pre-K,” said Winningham. “Education is the foundation of a successful life in this country and I will continue to strive to make sure a quality education is available to every student and family in Tennessee.”

The House Education Committee is scheduled to discuss education funding later next week.

With the help of grassroots supporters, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America Action fund is running this ad to break through the clutter. If you’re interested in getting involved, whether you’re a veteran or a concerned civilian visit their web site.

As a recent report from the Government Accountability Office reveals, seven months have passed since the Walter Reed crisis and serious problems in veterans’ care remain.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As of October 1, the veterans’ budget is late. Until it is approved, the VA will be forced to ration care.

Now, it’s up to the President and Congress to approve the budget. Add your name to the statement, and demand they take action.

The VA Budget

Last year, the VA provided benefits to 3.5 million veterans and their families and health care for 5.5 million patients.

Unlike programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which require mandatory funding, allocations for the VA are discretionary. Only once in the past 13 years has the veterans’ budget been passed on time.

As a result of the stalled VA budget, the VA is forced to operate at last year’s funding levels. Hospitals must ration care and postpone new programs and construction and repair projects.

This year, Congress authorized the highest increase in the veterans’ budget in over 77 years, for a total of approximately $88 billion. This is significant progress, but unfortunately, while the funding waits in conference, wounded veterans are again kept in waiting.

Care and Benefits for Wounded Veterans

Since 2001, more than 26,000 troops have been wounded in action, and almost 45,000 veterans have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Many of these servicemembers face delays when they seek treatment from the VA.

A significant cause of the delays is the maze of paperwork troops and veterans must navigate to get care or benefits. The VA disability benefits system is so severely backlogged that there are over 378,000 pending disability claims, including 83,000 that have been waiting an average of 177 days or more, according to a recent GAO report.

Some veterans with serious mental health problems have committed suicide while waiting for emergency counseling, and others have fallen into debt awaiting government compensation for their injuries.

Also according to the GAO report, there are plans to train case managers and psychiatric nurses about PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) but only 6 of the 32 Warrior Transition Units have completed training for all staff.

About Annette L. McLeod

Annette L. McLeod is the wife of Army Specialist Wendell W. McLeod, Jr. On July 6, 2005, at the end of a ten-month deployment, Spc. McLeod sustained multiple injuries while serving near the Iraqi border in Kuwait.

On August 8, 2005, Wendell arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. During his stay, Spc. McLeod experienced sporadic appointments, was often denied the necessary tests and treatment, and had his identity stolen. Furthermore, though Wendell suffered from traumatic brain injury, the doctors concluded that his cognitive impairments were the result of a pre-existing learning disability.

In hopes of sparing other military families from having to go through a similar ordeal, Mrs. McLeod testified before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee on March 5, 2007. In her testimony, Mrs. McLeod called attention to the bureaucratic hurdles and poor care that her husband and other soldiers faced at Walter Reed. Her full testimony can be found here.

Today, Wendell continues to suffer from migraines, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and chronic pain. He also has behavioral and short-term memory problems. As a result, Annette has assumed the role of almost full-time caretaker for her husband.

About Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon

Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon was wounded in Iraq on Nov. 13, 2004, during a gunfight in the town of Habaniya. He suffered a gunshot wound to the head that resulted in the loss of his left eye and a traumatic brain injury.

At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, SSG Shannon endured bureaucratic neglect and was continually denied proper benefits. Largely as a result of lost paperwork and delayed treatment, it took Shannon over two years to secure medical retirement through the Medical Evaluation Board and Physical Evaluation Board.

On March 5, 2007, SSG Shannon spoke out about the problems at Walter Reed during his testimony before the Government Reform and Oversight Committee. His testimony revealed that injured troops encountering obstacles to receiving their proper treatment often give up their benefits in order to move on with their lives. His full testimony can be found here.

About IAVA

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation’s first and largest group for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  A non-profit and nonpartisan organization, IAVA represents more than 60,000 veteran members and civilian supporters in all 50 states.

I am understandably upset by this information, but don’t think that just because you aren’t a vet that you are safe. We now know that the federal government, specifically the National Security Agency (NSA) is probably eavesdropping on every call you make. I heard today that a special Pentagon program is busily data mining the MySpace web site, sucking up every bit of data it can on the kids who frequent the site. Not only that, but they are using sophisticated programs that seek to make connections from the data they mine on that site to data found on other sites as well. Evidently our government is REAL interested in what the kids are doing. And if they’ve got your kids, you can bet they can get you too.

Now the feds would have you believe that they would never, never, never, never misuse the information they collect on you. They have safeguards on safeguards to insure that it never happens. They have severe penalties for those who do misuse the info. OK. But suppose you piss off one of those fine federal employees who safeguard your data? Suppose they have a grudge against you, what then? Or better yet, suppose some data entry clerk miskeys something and all of a sudden you become a member of an Al Quaeda sleeper cell? Or, they could just take some work home and have their laptop stolen.

Now, tell me again why I should trust the government with my personal data?