Education news for October 7
Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Heather.
25 cents too far? Schools consider Metro fare increase
Another one for February: North Kitsap School Board to discuss 2010 levy, proposed budget panel
Survey says: Hispanic students aspire to higher education but face barriers
Mo’ money: Ed. Dept. proposes Innovation Grant ground rules
Less money: States face budget hurdles on testing, GAO says
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I 1033 is really scarier than I originally thought
Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Kelly.
I’ve been doing some work on I-1033 to better understand what is going to happen to education if it passes. It’s really not good. It will devastate education and that is not an understatement. You all know me, I’m not about money, I’m about student performance, if we could take these cuts and keep student performance up, well then it’s a good thing. But that is not going to happen. Colorado saw graduation rates drop, this is what is going to happen to us. Colorado went from being in the middle of the pack in education funding to 49th (and in 5 years) what will happen to us? We are already at 43-46th!
If this issue passes we will spend the next 3-4 years cutting, figuring out what to cut, communicating what to cut, fighting over what to cut. At about 3-4 years we will all figure out that this is a disaster and as a state we will stop the initiative. We won’t have done anything at all to improve education, how could we? All we will do in education for the next 3-4 years is plan for cuts.
Meanwhile we will be failing kids.
Each of us needs to start thinking about how we can motivate our communities to think about this issue.
We need to move into campaign mode. And big time. What you should be doing:
1. Talk to your neighbors about why this initiative will cripple education (and the state)
2. Ask your PTA, homeowners association, realtors association, any group you can think of to endorse.
3. Ask your school board to take an endorsement
4. Ask your city council to take an endorsement (in the case of the city council and the school board, ask privately first, but if that doesn’t work, then go to the next meeting and ask publically) It DOES make a difference
5. Sign up to help on phone banks (I will send phone bank info out today or tomorrow.
6. Set up a phone bank – the Seattle council PTA has done it! LEV will offer its offices to you for the phonebank. Often realtors offices will help, the campaign will help you find a location, they will provide the materials and train you.
7. There is an education flyer on the www.no1033.com website – print it out, bring it to meetings, put it in your neighbors mailboxes…write a little note on it.
8. Write a letter to the editor, get your friends to write a letter to the editor.
