Stop Education Budget Cuts. Give Kids Good Schools!
Help Give Kids Good Schools Now!
Last year, a S. Carolina teacher enjoyed a 25K prize and a BMW loaner car for a year as a reward for being named the S. Carolina teacher of the year. The very next year, she lost her job!
Unfortunately, she is not the only one to be faced with job loss. Teachers across the country are being rewarded for their teaching efforts with pink slips and unemployment!
These top quality educators are being taken from our kids when they are most needed! In fact, state education budgets across the country are in danger of being cut. That means that your children could be faced with even more overcrowded classrooms, less qualified teachers, fewer after-school programs, and even a shortage of books and materials!
The current state of education is shocking:
- On a world map, American kids could find on average only seven of 16 countries in the quiz. 11% could not even locate the U.S.A.
- Only 41% of today's students know the three branches of government, while 59% know the names of the Three Stooges.
- 74% can name the city where cartoon character Bart Simpson lives (Springfield). Only 12% know where Abraham Lincoln lived (Springfield, IL).
- AND, 50% of all urban school students score below the basic reading level on national tests.
Dear Governor,
I am writing to urge you to make education a priority in our state budget. In particular, providing highly qualified teachers for all students. I am very concerned about the quality of public education in our state, especially since large state budget deficits are jeopardizing education funding across the country.
We should be increasing the amount of money we spend on educating our children, not decreasing it. If cuts must be made to our public programs, I want education cut last and cut least.
I believe that the single most important thing we can do to improve education is to put a highly qualified teacher in every classroom. Research shows a clear correlation between students' achievement levels and the quality of their teachers. Attracting and keeping enough quality teachers for all children should be America's top education priority. And this priority must be reflected in our state budget.
In order to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers our state must provide the following:
The new federal law mandates that our state's public education system 'leave no child behind'. More specifically, the law requires that we have a highly qualified teacher in every classroom by the school year 2005-06. To
Incentives for school districts to hire and retain qualified teachers
Good pay, sufficient to support a teacher and his or her family
Small class sizes
Safe, healthy and orderly school work environments
Opportunities for high-quality on-the-job teacher training and rich, ongoing professional development
meet that goal, we need to make funding for public education a top priority. Quality public education is an investment in our state's future. We must treat education as the investment that it is and fund it accordingly. I am an education voter. I will continue to watch and remember which of my elected representatives vote to cut education funding and which vote to support it and I will cast my vote accordingly.
I look forward to reading your response on this important issue.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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