Save Public Education #opposeHR610

House Bill 610 makes some large changes. Inform yourselves. This bill will effectively start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17, and it starts the defunding process of public schools. In addition the bill will eliminate the Elementary and Education Act of 1965, which is the nation's educational law and provides equal opportunity in education. It would repeal ESSA (Every Students Succeeds Act). ESSA is a big comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance and Federal Accountability Programs. The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act), which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting SN kids, no mention of IDEA and FAPE.

Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities:
-Ensures access to the general education curriculum.
-Ensures access to accommodations on assessments.
-Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning.
-Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups.
-Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools and overuse of discipline practices and reducing the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).

Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on House Bill 610 (HR 610).

Celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth through learning and listening

From the ActionNow news-email

Celebrate Black History Month through learning and listening:

So, how do we listen to Black History month? In all the ways above—and I would love to hear more—and, I thought, through this list. It's 31 black women, mostly activists, that are an important part of history, and who you should know, and who you (and all of us) should listen to. You might know some of them but you probably don't know all of them. I'm not linking their names, you can google them. Read more than the Wikipedia page, if they even have one. Do one a day for the month. It will take 10 minutes, and that's 10 minutes you aren't scrolling through the news and panicking, so it's double plus good.

1. Florynce Kennedy
2. Elaine Brown
3. Assata Shakur
4. Hallie Quinn Brown
5. Chirlane McCray
6. Barbara Easley
7. Chaka Khan
8. Loretta Ross
9. Maxine Waters
10. Fannie Lou Hamer
11. Barbara Smith
12. Charlotte Fortin Grimke
13. Demita Frazier
14. Ida B. Wells
15. Tamika Mallory
16. Ella Baker
17. Septima Clark
18. Daisy Yates
19. Ruby Dee
20. Alicia Garza
21. Sybrina Fulton
22. Patrisse Cullors
23. Charlotte Ray
24. Opal Tometti
25. Cathay Williams
26. Jarena Lee
27. Amy Jacques Garvey
28. Maria W. Stewart
29. Erica Garner
30. Diane Nash
31. Margaret Sloan-Hunter

How to call your Reps - Insider Knowledge #resist #callnow

Copied from a friend:

"Friends! As some of you know, I used to work on Capitol Hill as the person in charge of all the incoming phone calls to my Senator's office. I have some insider tips to make calling your reps easier and quicker.

1. Give your name, city, and zip code, and say "I don't need a response." That way, they can quickly confirm you are a constituent, and that they can tally you down without taking the time to input you into a response database.

2. PLEASE ONLY CALL YOUR OWN REPRESENTATIVES! Your tally will not be marked down unless you can rattle off a city and zip from the state, or are calling from an in-state area code. I know you really want to give Mitch McConnell a piece of your mind, but your call will be ignored unless you can provide a zip from Kentucky. And don't try to make this up; I could often tell who was lying before I even picked up the phone from the caller ID. Exceptions to this are things like Paul Ryan's ACA poll.

3. State the issue, state your position. "I am opposed to a ban on Muslims entering the US." "I am in favor of stricter gun control legislation including background checks." "I am in favor of the Affordable Care Act." That's it. That's all we write down so we can get a tally of who is in favor, who is against. It doesn't matter WHY you hold that opinion. The more people calling, the less detail they write down. Help them out by being simple and direct.

4. Please be nice! The people answering the phones on Capitol Hill already had the hardest job in DC and some of the lowest pay as well, and for a month now their jobs have become absolute murder, with nonstop calls for 9 hours every day. Thank them for their hard work answering the phones, because without them our Senators could not represent us.
What does this sound like?

"Hi, my name is Mark, I'm a constituent from Seattle, zip code 98***, I don't need a response. I am opposed to any ban on Muslims entering the United States and I encourage the Senator to please oppose implementation of any such ban. Thanks for your hard work answering the phones!"
This is how I wish every caller had phrased their message. It makes it easier for the people answering the phones and takes less time and emotion than a long script. I know that you want to say why, but keeping it short and sweet helps the office answer more calls per hour, meaning more people get heard. The bigger the tally, the more powerful our voice.

Also, when you're reading off the same script as 100 other callers that day... well...they can tell.
Pick one issue each day, use this format (I am in favor of _____ or I oppose ______), and call your 2 Senators and 1 Representative on their DC and State Office lines, and you'll be on your way to being heard."