PLEASE HELP new government bill that is coming through the system ...

I would appreciate a mod to pin this.

A friend of mine sent this through myspace. I will give you a link to his profile at the bottom.


Heather and I could use your help

"As some of you know, my wife works in the Washington school system as a school psychologist. Well, she got word of a new government bill that is coming through the system that is trying to save the government money by cutting money from public education.


This new bill, however, has major ramifications for the kids, teachers, and staff in the Kindergarten-12th grade schools. Essentially, the main way it cuts costs is by slashing out all of the pay that teachers and staff receive for the loads of work they do outside of classtime such as preparing lectures, grading, going to meetings, etc. No reimbursement.


The other major thing it does is that it makes it so people with higher education degrees like Masters and PhD are no longer paid any differently than people with a basic teaching degree. This makes it very unappealing for our local schools most well educated employees to continue working in the public school system, which is in turn bad for the kids that go there.


On a personal note, this will effect my wife and I because it will nearly cut her salary next year in HALF! This isn't something we can live on, so she would have to find a new job outside of the school system.


It would really help us out, as well as the school system and kids in general if you would take a few minutes to call this number and voice your opinion:

PLEASE take a moment to help out with this dire situation.
The
legislature is scheduled to vote on this next month, and according to the
people I have talked to from the Washington Education Association (WEA),
this has a good chance of passing if our legislators don't hear from the
voters.
It really only takes a few minutes to all the legislative
hotline and let your representative know how you feel about the
situation.


The number is 1-800-562-6000

Sample message (Please add in a personal objection or specific concern
– ideas are below):
"I oppose House Bill 1410 and Senate Bill 5444.
Our schools face huge
funding cuts.
Yet these bills do not include increased funding for
schools. They are a false funding promise and a distraction.
Please
support the World-Class Schools bills, HB 1817 and SB 5607.
"





If you would like more information feel free to ask me or Heather. Here are a few bullet points about the new bill.


Critical Questions about House Bill 1410 / Senate Bill 5444 provided by
the WEA

• Washington already has plenty of unfunded and unsupported mandates
from the state, including the WASL, Essential Academic Learning
Requirements (with no curriculum support or adequate support for
struggling students), Professional Certification, Culminating
Exhibitions, Classroom Based Assessments, the Certificate of Student
Mastery, etc.
Why doesn't the state amply fund our Basic Education system
and existing legislative mandates? Where are the guarantees from the
Legislature for the funding that our schools so critically need?

• With Washington state's class sizes ranking 46th in the nation,
how can the Legislature repeal Initiative 728 (the Student Achievement
Fund), which will make our class sizes even bigger?

• With per pupil funding 45th in the nation (as of last year), how
can the Legislature require additional graduation requirements (Core 24
credits) without additional resources?

• Why did the Washington Basic Education Finance Task Force fail to
address finance?

• Why do legislators want to change the teacher licensing rules for
the 4th time in 12 years and drive away more people from considering
teaching as a profession?

• Legislators want to reserve the highest pay on a new, mandated
state salary schedule exclusively for National Board certified staff even
though there is no National Board certification available for school
psychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech
therapists, nurses, teachers of certain world languages, and certain
other fields.
How does this help districts recruit and retain talented
staff for these already difficult to fill positions?

• How will extending provisional contract status to five years
attract and retain talented educators?

• Washington teaching salaries are already dead last among West
Coast states.
How does eliminating or restricting TRI (supplemental) pay
make this situation better?

• These bills don't recognize a Master's or Doctorate degree under
the new, mandatory state salary schedule.
Where does this leave educators
faced with repaying student loans for those advanced degrees? Are
advanced degrees really so meaningless to lawmakers?

• Charter schools were rejected three times by Washington voters.

Why does HB 1410/SB 5444 resuscitate a dead issue and propose private
sector management of public schools?

• How does reducing a school district's ability to raise money
through levies help us afford what the Legislature has already mandated,
but failed to fund?

• Do legislators really think that all educators simply need to work
harder and that they need more regulation?

After you call, please pass this message on, the more noise we raise, the
less likely this is to happen.


THANK-YOU!!! We really appreciate your time. "

Cory - [link to profile.myspace.com]