Top Action: Call Your Rep. about Education

Please call the foreign policy aide for your representative and ask that he or she sign on to the Schakowsky sign-on letter to Secretary of State Clinton. The letter asks the Obama administration to make a three-year pledge of $375 million to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) at the upcoming replenishment conference in November. Points to emphasize when you call:

• This is not new money. It would involve shifting some of our global education money to the Global Partnership for Education. 
• Investing in the GPE is cost effective because GPE coordinates aid, the U.S. investment will encourage other governments to give, and GPE encourages recipient countries to invest more in their own education sectors. 
• GPE investment in developing countries fills funding gaps while the vast majority of education funding comes from the recipient countries themselves. 
• If GPE raises the $2.5 billion for three years they are seeking, they’ll help put 25 million kids in school over that time. 
• Investing in global education is good for U.S. security and the U.S. economy. 

 Here are other useful resources to help you with this request:

• Our comprehensive Education for All resource page, which includes the updated editorial packet. 
• A laser talk for making the request 
• A copy of the sign-on letter to Sec. Of State Clinton you can send to the aide 
• A fact sheet on global education that explains why education is so critical 
• Recent op-ed by General John Bradley on global education and investing the GPE that you can forward 
• Capitol Hill switchboard: (202) 224-3121 

 Your efforts are critical to getting the administration to make this needed investment. Please take a couple of minutes to do this today or tomorrow. Stay in action on it it until you get a yes or no answer!