March is PTA Advocacy Month

All children in New York State need your help!

The Governor’s proposed budget contains some items that are of concern to New

York State PTA. NYS PTA is mounting a campaign to address two of those issues:

education funding and charter schools. We are asking every PTA member to

participate in our legislative campaign.

Virtual Lobby Day is March 17th. On that day we are asking all our members to

call, email and/or fax their legislators. Tell them you support full funding for public

schools and want to see changes in the funding and accountability of charter

schools! Contact all legislators listed, as well as your local representatives. We need

thousands of voices to ensure our message is heard. Look for an email from PTA with further instructions.

This is our opportunity to mobilize so that all children have access to a sound education! This is Advocacy Action!

Together we can send a powerful message to Albany.

In addition to contacting your local representatives, please also contact:

Governor David Paterson

518-474-8390

http://www.ny.gov/governor/contact/index.html

Senator Malcolm Smith

Majority Leader

518-455-2701

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Assemblyman Sheldon Silver

Speaker of the House

518-455-3791

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Senator Suzi Oppenheimer

Chair of the Senate Education Committee

518-455-2031

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Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan

Chair of Assembly Education Committee

518-455-4851

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NYS Assembly website: www.assembly.state.ny.us

NYS Senate website: www.senate.state.ny.us

A sample letter follows:

Date:
The Honorable___________________________
Address________________________________
_______________________________________

Dear

On behalf of more than 340,000 New York State PTA members, I am writing to express concern about he potential impact of the 2010-11 Executive Budget on our education system. The proposed budget reflects a 2% reduction of all school spending statewide. Individual school districts would see a reduction of state aid averaging 5%. Universal Prekindergarten aids would be frozen for two years and full phase-in of the foundation formula would be extended to 2016-17. Under this plan, our schools ill fall further and further behind.

Although the proposal would impose a greater percentage cut in state aid to high wealth/low need
districts, the loss of actual dollars would still likely be greatest in low wealth/high need districts that are more dependent on state aid and serve our most vulnerable populations. Moreover, proposed reductions are too great to be absorbed in a single year without causing long term damage to educational program and staffing.

The Executive Budget saves an estimated $13 million by modifying Early Intervention programs by
requiring evidence based criteria to determine service eligibility, permitting paraprofessionals to provide certain services and increasing reimbursement from commercial insurers. More importantly, it introduces a sliding scale based on income that would, for the first time, charge parents between $42 and $540 for each child enrolled in the program.

We acknowledge that you are approaching the 2010-11 budget year faced with unprecedented and
continuing economic challenges. Recognizing this dire situation, school districts have demonstrated
remarkable ingenuity and efforts to reduce spending, and are willing to continue to work with the state on this path. But deep reductions to our education system cannot be sustained. New York State’s economic future depends on protecting the investment the state has made in providing the learning opportunities that today’s youth will need to succeed in tomorrow’s world. Each child passes through the education process once. Where academic opportunity is diminished or denied, the impact will be felt forever.

The purpose of Mill Road PTA Advocacy Committee is to mobilize individuals to spark changes in programs and policies that benefit children at the local, state, and national levels. Much of what the PTA is doing to improve services and conditions in our community falls under the category of advocacy. PTA Advocacy can include any and all issues relevant to the academic, physical, social, and emotional environment of our education system.

On the state and national level, PTA advocacy efforts have led to positive changes in child labor laws, public health services, federal education laws, parent involvement policies, school lunch programs, and juvenile justice protections. All of these changes occurred because of the consistent hard work and persuasion of PTA members.