[CSPS] early leg push for vouchers

[Cecelia Hawkins]

>TFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE (800-764-1177)--FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2005
>
>
>(copyright Texas Federation of Teachers 2005)
>
>An Early Push for Private-School Vouchers--Contact Your
>Legislators in Opposition!
>
>It looks as if the private-school voucher lobby wants to strike
>quickly this session in the Texas House, pushing a bill
>containing a voucher program to the floor as an "emergency"
>matter. Gov. Rick Perry, Republican of Haskell, paved the way
>with a call for vouchers in his "state of the state" speech this
>week. The governor pressed all the rhetorical buttons signaling
>support for vouchers, claiming that students are "trapped" in
>"failing" schools run by a "monopoly"--by which he means your
>neighborhood school. The only answer, said Perry, is "school
>choice"--as if a wide array of choices did not already exist
>within the public schools.
>
>The Speaker of the House, Republican Rep. Tom Craddick of
>Midland, meanwhile reportedly has been squeezing House members
>in back-room meetings at the capitol to back a draft education
>"reform" bill containing private-school vouchers. Craddick and
>his lieutenants are saying they want to bring this measure to a
>vote as early in February as possible. Another voucher bill
>already referred to the House Public Education Committee is HB
>12 by Rep. Frank Corte, Republican of San Antonio. Corte's bill
>is portrayed as a limited-scale, pilot voucher program, but in
>fact it would introduce vouchers on a massive scale in major
>urban districts, at huge expense to Texas taxpayers.
>
>With the voucher push starting early and the capitol already
>crawling with hired-gun voucher lobbyists, it is time RIGHT NOW
>for all of us to start pushing back hard with letters and calls
>to our legislators. You will find an anti-voucher letter on the
>TFT Web site at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/yp16mBM1Xcrl/.
>Just click on the prompt to "visit the legislative action
>center," and you'll find the anti-voucher letter ready for you
>to send straight from the TFT Web site to your state
>representative and state senator. You also can call your
>legislators on the TFT toll-free line to the state capitol
>switchboard: 1-888-836-8368. Just give the name of your state
>rep or state senator to the capitol operator and ask to be
>connected to that legislator's office.
>
>Do not doubt the impact of your letters and phone calls. Exactly
>this type of grass-roots campaign has stopped the voucher lobby
>in its tracks session after session. Here's a preview of the
>anti-voucher letter:
>
>I urge you to oppose public funding for private-school vouchers
>or voucher equivalents. Vouchers in any form would drain
>taxpayer dollars from public education at a time when our public
>schools already face a budget crisis.
>
>Voucher legislation would erode the foundation of our state's
>success in public education--the funding needed to help our
>students meet high standards. Every dollar siphoned away for
>private-school vouchers would be taken from the funding pool
>that could pay for smaller class sizes, extra help for at-risk
>students, and better compensation to reduce the teacher
>shortage.
>
>The claim that Texas schoolchildren are "trapped" in failed
>neighborhood public schools is false. The fact is that only a
>tiny handful of neighborhood schools have been rated
>low-performing for even two years. The consistently failing
>schools are charter schools--privately run operations that
>already have cost Texas taxpayers more than $1 billion and that
>offer just a foretaste of what a private-school voucher program
>would look like. If parents want higher academic standards,
>their children are clearly better off attending the regular
>public schools.
>
>The truth is that the push for private-school vouchers is not
>about helping parents choose better schools for their children.
>It's about money. It's about taking money away from public
>schools to fund for-profit schools, including "virtual schools"
>offering classes over the Internet and home schooling.
>
>Vote no on vouchers! Vote instead for a proven model of
>educational progress: high standards for neighborhood public
>schools back up by the funding needed to help all our students
>meet those high standards.
>
>--------------------------------------------------
>
>Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.
>
>http://www.unionvoice.org/join-forward.html?domain=texasaflcio&r=Sd16mBM1RPcm
>
>
>If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for
>Texas AFL-CIO at:
>
>http://www.unionvoice.org/texasaflcio/join.html?r=Sd16mBM1RPcmE
>
>--------------------------------------------------
>
>This message was sent to corbet at tamu.edu. To modify your email
>communication preferences or update your personal profile, visit
>your subscription management page at:
>
>http://www.unionvoice.org/texasaflcio/smp.tcl?nkey=d7wkii207tmk65
>
>To stop ALL email from Texas AFL-CIO, reply via email with
>"remove" in the subject line, or use the following link:
>
>http://www.unionvoice.org/texasaflcio/remove-domain-direct.tcl?ctx=center&nkey=d7wkii207tmk65
>
>
>***************************************
>Powered by GetActive Software, Inc.
>Member Relationship Management Solutions
>That Recruit, Engage, and Retain (tm)
>http://www.getactive.com
>***************************************
>
>