U.S. Senate    
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions    
428 Senate Dirksen Office Building    
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Enzi and Senators Bingaman, Alexander:

The National Urban League (NUL) is the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement with 98 affiliates in 36 states and the District of Columbia devoted to empowering African-­Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. Our work is motivated by the attainment our 2025 Empowerment goals in the areas of jobs, housing, health and education.  

In the area of education, we are making progress toward our "Ensuring every American child is prepared for college, work, and life" through our substantial experience in the administration and implementation of programs that serve children and youth. The Urban League network of affiliates is directly involved in various aspects of education as operators of charter schools, Supplemental Educational Service (SES) providers, participants and partners under the 21st Century Learning Communities, parent education specialists, partners of educational opportunity centers and members of local and state school improvement teams and school boards.  

On behalf of the Urban League affiliates and the thousands of youth we serve in the public school system, we are writing in support of the bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the 112th Congress. For the National Urban League, ESEA reauthorization is linked to our goals of putting Americans back to work. Direct job creation now and in the future can only be achieved by ensuring equitable access to the best teachers, highest standards and resources that will allow American students to compete in a 21st century global economy. 

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