More than 1,100 supporters of Title I, the federal compensatory-education program for disadvantaged children, gathered here last week for a “national day of action” to persuade members of Congress to vote against any cuts in the program as proposed by the Reagan Administration.
Adrienne Jackson, co-chairman of the Coalition to Save Title I, which organized the “grassroots” lobbying effort, said that at least seven additional Congressmen have made a commitment to support the Title I program as a result of last week’s campaign. She said that so far, about 164 Representatives in the House have signed a “Dear Colleague” letter asking for Congressional support for the program.
About 20 other members of Congress, according to Linda Brown of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, have promised to give Title I “serious consideration.”
Members of the coalition, which includes representatives from more than 30 education, civil-rights, child-advocacy, and parents’ organizations, had surveyed 5,000 school districts to determine by Congressional district the impact of the Administration’s proposed reductions for the compensatory program.
The coalition compiled a “target list” of Congressional “boll weevils,” the nickname given to conservative Democrats from the South, and “gypsy moths,” moderate Republicans from the North and Midwest, whose support would be needed to prevent a $411- million reduction in the Title I program which has been proposed by the Administration for 1983.
