November 27, 2015

The Honorable Rod Blum

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Blum,

I am a high school special education teacher at West Waterloo High School in Waterloo, Iowa. I urge your
continued and further support toward reviving The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in the
upcoming session. As a nation, it is important for us to get back to the original promise of ESEA and promote
equity, fairness, and helping those most in need.

In early November, I saw that you signed a letter demonstrating your support for Senator Baldwins plea toward
gaining technology funding in ESEA. I want to commend you on your support in that area; however, I have also
noticed that you tend to overlook the bigger picture of issues facing education today. Your stance regarding
Americas current education system is that it is failing and statistics back up your claim. You state that regardless
of what type of schooling our nations youth receive public, private, or home the control and oversight of that
education needs to be returned as close to home as possible and removed as much as possible from Washington.

According to the Southern Education Foundation, in 2013, nearly 51 percent of students across the country were
considered to be low-income. In 21 states, half or more of the students were also found to have qualified for free
or reduced lunch. As a public high school teacher in Waterloo, I see this problem first-hand. In 2013, 48 percent
of the students in West Waterloo High School qualified for free and reduced lunch. The demographics of our
school show that 41 percent of the students in the building are considered to be a minority, with many receiving
ELL services. In correlation to that, the graduation rate in 2012 was just 74 percent.

These numbers are unacceptable and alarming. What these statistics show is that our district, among many others,
is serving an underprivileged group of students who come to school already at a disadvantage because of their
backgrounds. Due to a lack of funding, we lack the necessary resources to help this group of people who need it
most. Therefore, without the push to receive more funding, changes will not be made to increase graduation rates
in districts like this across the country, but more specifically at home in Iowa.

Representative Blum, if you so strongly believe that education is indeed the cornerstone to American
exceptionalism, and that it is also an issue that must be more locally focused, I urge you to look more closely at
how Governor Branstad and the Iowa Legislators have shown their support to this great cause with a 1.25%
increase in funding for education. I urge you to more publicly endorse the idea of funding and revival of the
ESEA at the federal level until Iowa once again becomes a forerunner for education in this country. Then and only
then can it be a local issue alone.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this letter and welcome any further conversations regarding this topic.
Thank you for your continued support and recognition of the importance of education in America, and more
importantly, education in Iowa. I can be reached by email at reimera@waterlooschools.org.

Best Regards,

Ashley Reimer