First, I forgot to mention on the policy call today that CEF is mobilizing a “call-in” day TOMORROW, urging Congress to support an overall increase to education funding before the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittees are wrap up their work. I’m going to paste their call to action below — more detailed instructions are attached. I encourage you to participate — it’s easy! > Call and get automatically connected to your Representative or Senator – Thanks to CEF member the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for providing two phone lines that will connect callers with their Representative or one of their Senators! The attached instructions provide a short overview, the phone number for people to call on Thursday to reach their Representative and the number to call on Friday to reach one of their Senators. Callers will be connected to the appropriate Member of Congress based on the zip code they enter. The phone lines will remain open until the funding bill is finalized, but since the work may wrap up soon we encourage people to call this Thursday and Friday. > Sample script – The attached instructions include the following sample script for callers: > “Hi, my name is ___________ and I am a constituent from ____________, ________. I am calling to urge my Representative/Senator to increase federal education investments in the bill funding the Department of Education that Congress is working on now. Investments in education are vital for students, families, communities, and the U.S. economy. (provide a specific example if you want to). I urge the Representative/Senator _________ to work hard to increase education funding. Thank you.” > > Sample tweets and charts – For those who want to share their advocacy on Twitter instead or in addition to calling, we’ve provided two sample tweets, each with a chart, and a list of all Twitter addresses for Members of Congress. Second, CEF is hosting a briefing here in D.C. this Monday, December 9, entitled “The Importance of Education Investments to the Economy and National Security.” Representatives Anthony Brown (D-MD) and Robert Wittman (R-VA) – both members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) – will open the briefing and then there will be a panel discussion with "speakers representing the defense and business communities.” However, if you are hoping for a chance to learn how adult education funding might be used to support the ever-expanding military industrial complex, don’t get too excited yet, because so far the two additional speakers confirmed are workforce-oriented: Jason Dougal, Executive Vice President of the National Center on Education, and CEO of the National Institute for School Leadership, and Cheryl Oldham, Vice President of Education Policy at the US Chamber of Commerce, and Senior Vice President of Education and Workforce, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Snark aside, there really was some discussion during the planning stages about defining national security more broadly, so we’ll see. Anyway, the briefing will be from 3:30pm-5:00pm in 2045 Rayburn House Office Building.