From West Virginia to California teachers are boldly standing up for themselves, their students and their schools. Teachers are walking out due to a lack of sufficient funding, which has resulted in the deterioration of salaries, fewer services for children and increased class size.
They are also making it clear that they understand why public school funding has been drained. Privatization schemes like charters and vouchers have made school funding a competition, not a public obligation.
As Oakland Education Association President, Keith Brown, told the Washington Post:
More than $50 million is diverted every year to charter schools while our students have a 1,750 to 1 ratio for students to school nurses and 600 to 1 for guidance counselors. The charter schools that capture our dollars lack financial transparency and accountability standards…
In West Virginia, teachers and school service workers had a two-day walk out to show their opposition to provisions in proposed legislation that would have created the state’s first charter schools and allowed vouchers in the form of education savings accounts (ESAs).
The week of March 25-29 is Public Schools Week. Let’s make 2019 The Year of the Public School.
Here is how you can help:
Call your Members of Congress.
Use the buttons below to find the phone numbers for your representatives.
We’ve also provided a call script you can use.
Good morning (afternoon). My name is (your name), and I am calling to ask (representative’s name) to support the resolution designating March 25-29 as Public Schools Week. The resolution is sponsored by Mr. Pocan, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Graves and Mr. Thompson. Do you know if (representative’s name) will be signing on? (If they say, no, ask) May I speak with someone who might know. I think all of the public school parents in (representative’s) district, would love to hear that he/she supports Public Schools Week. I will check back with you next week to find out if he/she has signed on to the resolution. Thank you so much for your time.
Then write to your Members of Congress and ask them to support the resolution for Public Schools Week. Just click and send here.
Create your Public Schools Week Video
Create a 1 minute or less video about why you support public schools, or why public schools are important, or how public schools have enhanced your life. Send the video to in**@ne*********************.org so that we can feature it during Public Schools Week. Due date for videos is Friday, 3/22.
To see our complete toolkit with clickable tweets, memes and other ideas go here.
I would like to end this email with a quote from Oakland Education Association President, Keith Brown:
This strike is a fight for public education. Educators and public-school parents are joining together to stop the erosion of dollars and resources that our students need. This is about a parent’s right to send their children to a neighborhood public school, rather than an outsider agenda driven by contributions from wealthy individuals that seeks to dismantle a public school system.
As a supporter of the Network for Public Education, you understand the stakes. Let’s join our teachers and make sure that we all stand up and let the nation know we are #PublicSchoolProud.
