Scroll down for a list of state Facebook pages and groups.
The 2010 elections sent a shock wave through Washington, D.C. But the aftershocks for children, public education, teachers and other educators in state after state will be especially harmful and long-lived unless educators, parents and other supporters of public education join together to keep the pressure on governors and other state elected officials.
Governors are central players in formulating education policy. State and local legislators approve education budgets, and more than 90 cents of every dollar spent on education comes from state and local governments.
The challenges are daunting: School budgets across the country being slashed; shrinking state and local revenues; emergency federal funding coming to an end; and one in five children living in poverty.
Against this troubling backdrop, state lawmakers are expected to take up legislation in the weeks and months ahead that would harm students, teachers and public schools. Under consideration are bills to:
- Fund vouchers, which do nothing to improve public schools.
- Link teacher salaries to student performance on standardized tests, ignoring factors outside a teacher’s control, especially poverty but also medical care, nutrition, exposure to books and other educationally enriching experiences, and school attendance.
- Eliminate or restrict educators’ right to a hearing before being fired, otherwise known as due process.
- Weaken educators’ retirement security by switching to plans tied to the Stock Market’s ups and downs, even though teachers have foregone salary increases for years in exchange for a decent standard of living when they retire.
More than ever, being informed, organized and involved can mean the difference between drastic rollbacks and risky schemes and helping students and teachers avoid becoming budget scapegoats. With that in mind, here are some selected Facebook groups and pages from various states that can keep you up to date and tell you how to help when the time comes to take quick, coordinated action.
Know of a Facebook page or group we missed? Leave a comment on this article and we’ll add it to the list.