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TASPA
Legislative alert—Oppose School Vouchers!
Dear TASPA
member,
Craig
Tounget, Coordinator for the
Coalition for Public
Schools, has issued a call for action for
Virtual
Lobby Day February 7, 2007, to oppose school vouchers.
If you agree that private school vouchers funded by public school
money is a bad thing for Texas, please contact your House
Representative and Senator today to voice your opposition!
While it is best to send the message in your own words, here are some
talking points, and below the talking points is some information about how to contact your own
Senator and House Representative.
TALKING
POINTS:
Ø
Your own words are
always best, but here are some ideas for talking points. Always
emphasize when you call that you are a CONSTITUENT and want your
legislators to know how you feel so they can represent you well.
Ø
Make clear you oppose vouchers in all
forms, including "targeted" vouchers for special populations.
Ø
Our public schools need
MORE money—they do not need money to be drained away by voucher bills.
ALL CHILDREN MATTER, and public schools can't
meet the needs of the remaining students if we allow money to be
drained away in expensive, unproven tactics like vouchers.
Ø
School taxes are NOT
tuition—they are an investment in the future of Texas for the common
good.
Ø
We HAVE school
choice—parents of students in low performing schools already have the
ability to transfer their children to better public schools, and in
large urban areas public school districts have generally open and
accessible transfer policies within the district.
(you can share with your
legislators how your OWN district gives parents recourse to
changing schools if their children are not performing well at their
assigned school)
If
sending an email, please write, “opposed to ALL School voucher plans ”
in the subject line.
Many legislators
prefer email over calls, and since many other associations have their
members calling today, you won’t have to wait for a busy
line to clear.
To get the email address
of your own representative:
1)
Find out who represents you by going to
http://www.house.state.tx.us/resources/faq.htm#who_rep ,
enter your home address in the spaces provided, and hit the "Find Your
Representative" button.
2)
The
next page will give you BOTH your Texas State Senator and Texas State
Representative towards the bottom of the page. Click on the
name of your representative or senator, which will take you
to another page. This page will have the persons phone number, but
you have to follow a few links more for the email. Some have a
form at the bottom, others have a box that says "Send email".
Thanks for your attention to this matter, and for
all you do for public schools in Texas!
Best,
Alex
Dr. Alejandra (Alex) Martin
Executive Director
TASPA
406 East 11th Street
Austin, TX 78701
Tel (512) 494-9353
Fax (512) 494-9354
amartin@taspa.org
http://taspa.org
People are our most valuable resource!
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