Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Contact Senator Murray Today

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Contact Senator Murray Today:


Contact Senator Murray Today

From our friends over at the Seattle Education blog, comes news from a column in the Huffington Post by Leonie Hamison, "Will Our Federal Government Renounce Their Proposal to Increase Class Size".

The Obama administration has proposed that in next year’s education budget, 25 percent of the funds to reduce class size or keep teachers on staff be diverted to a competitive grant program to create and expand “new pathways” to teaching — e.g. to help fund organizations like Teach For America.

That would mean a cut of more than $600 million that, if approved, would lead to even larger classes in schools throughout the country next year. Senate Appropriations Committee will have its say on this issue next week when it considers the FY13 Labor, Health and Education funding bill. Recently, a group of corporate education reform groups, let by 50-CAN and joined by other organizations including Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst and Teach for America, sent a letter to Senate leaders, urging them to adopt the president’s proposal.

Here is contact info for Senator Murray.

You can also contact Senator Murray’s aide, Moire Duggan, moire_duggan@murray.senate.gov, and send her a message that will get to the Senator.

Let them hear from you.  Money for the classroom should be in the classroom and not in the hands of Wendy Kopp (TFA) and Michelle Rhee (Students First).