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Executive Director
THE WEEK OF POPE FRANCIS  What a fantastic week for the Catholic Community in the United States! A shout out to Dr. Tim McNiff, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of New York and the children, faculty and staff of the four schools hosting Pope Francis in East Harlem. The scenes at Our Lady Queen of the Angels were precious and priceless. The Holy Father is a teacher! He spent the entire week showing us how to spread the Gospel of Joy. In his address to the United Nations prior to visiting Our Lady Queen of the Angels School the Holy Father reminded us all of the importance of education for human flourishing.
"Integral human development and the full exercise of human dignity cannot be imposed... This  presupposes and requires the right to education which is ensured first and foremost by respecting and reinforcing the primary right of the family to educate its children, as well as the right of churches and social groups to support and assist families in the education of their daughters and sons." (Pope Francis address to the United Nations, September 25, 2015)
We are blessed beyond words for a week of catechesis from Pope Francis. If you are like me it will take months of prayerful reflection to fully grasp all that he taught the Catholic Community in the United States during his world-win tour of the East Coast.
I want to thank Kathy Knight for her work with the Secretariat for Catholic Education. Kathy leaves us today. We have begun the search process for a new Associate Director for Public Policy. In the meantime, should you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jfleming@usccb.org.
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Associate Director of Public Policy
NEXT STEPS FOR ESEA REAUTHORIZATION
July was an exciting month for ESEA reauthorization. The House passed its ESEA reauthorization version in The Student Success Act (SSA), and 2 weeks later, the Senate passed its ESEA reauthorization version--The Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA). Since that time, staff between the Senate and the House have been diligently working on parameters for going to conference to consolidate SSA and ECAA into a single bill to put before Congress for a vote-a bill that also garners the support of President Obama.
Just to make things more interesting, Speaker of the House John Boehner announced last week that he will be retiring at the end of October. His replacement will need to mobilize the operational base of the House to pass the single bill produced at conference. Please continue to pray for the members of Congress, their staffs, and the process.
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WISHING YOU WELL Please know what a pleasure it has been working with all of you for the last two years. Working with Sister John Mary, the rest of the Catholic Education team, and my colleagues at the USCCB has been an absolute joy and professionally and personally rewarding. God bless you and the work you do for Catholic Education. Wishing you the very best,
Kathy Knight
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