The Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) and its parent organization, the National Education Association (NEA), have formally endorsed U.S. Senator Dick Lugar for reelection. The endorsement caps a process that has included affirmative votes by the state leadership of ISTA, as well as their local political action committees around the state and the national board of the NEA. This is the first time ISTA has endorsed Lugar for reelection.

"I am deeply appreciative of the endorsement of the Indiana State Teachers Association," said Lugar. "This endorsement represents the strong interest in public education that I share with ISTA's nearly 50,000 members. My interest in public education began in 1964 when I was elected to the Indianapolis Public School Board of Commissioners. I value the strong consultation I have had with members of ISTA and look forward to significant achievement with Hoosier teachers over the next six years.

"I am pleased to work with Indiana teachers toward full funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act between now and 2011," added Lugar. "Likewise, Title I funding has increased recently but needs to continue to rise in the coming years to better serve our neediest schools."

"Sen. Lugar continues to work for Indiana's schoolchildren and for public schools," said ISTA President Judy Briganti in a press release issued by the organization. "Public school employees need his voice in Washington."

During Lugar's time on the IPS School Board, he drafted the Shortridge Plan, an effort to peaceably integrate the schools. After the first year of the effort, the school board backed away from the effort. Six years later, the system was desegregated by federal court order.

In the Senate, Lugar is one of only three members with experience on a school board. Additionally he was an instructor at what is now the University of Indianapolis prior to his first term.

While in the Senate, Lugar has maintained his focus on education. Understanding the process of learning is made much more difficult when a child is hungry, Lugar blocked efforts in 1996 to end school lunch as a federal program. Additionally, he has worked to expand that program to include the summer months, so children will not have a precipitous decline in nutrition just because school is not in session. 

Lugar is a long-time proponent of student reading proficiency at the third grade level. Specifically, he supports research-based programs such as Success for All. He has encouraged Indiana schools to adopt such programs and visited schools that already have them. He also worked to obtain $1.4 million for the Indiana Department of Education, Indianapolis Public Schools and other Indiana educators to develop benchmark assessments tied specifically to Indiana state standards for reading and math.

Lugar regularly spends time studying education issues and has made it a point to attend yearly education conferences and to meet with professional educators from across Indiana and the country. He visits elementary and secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities, to talk with students, teachers and administrators. Additionally, for 27 years he has hosted the "Lugar Symposium for Tomorrow's Leaders," which brings together 500 high school juniors from around the state to participate in day-long sessions involving national and international issues. 

Lugar has also supported education with the establishment of the Fund for Hoosier Excellence. Seeing a need to offer academically outstanding African-American, Hispanic and Native American students college opportunities in Indiana, Lugar began a program in 1983 to offer college scholarships. Since that time, the Fund for Hoosier Excellence has distributed more than $1 million to talented minority students. 

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