Important Dates
March 8 - Vote "YES" on Measures
A and B!
March 17 - Legislation Team
meeting 7:00 p.m. at 3477 School St., Lafayette
April 1 - Early Bird registration
deadline for Advocacy Day
April 7 - Superintendents Forum at
7:00 p.m, location TBA
April 19 - Advocacy Day
Quick Links...
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WELCOME!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of GET SMART On
Education, a newsletter produced and distributed by
the Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs Legislation
Team. The Team is composed of Legislative
Representatives from each school in the Lafayette,
Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, and Acalanes school
districts. We are dedicated to the continuous
improvement of our children's welfare and education.
It is our mission to:
- Keep parents informed about vital state
and federal education issues
- Assist parents in developing the tools and skills of
effective education advocacy
- Encourage individual and collective participation in
the democratic process
- Vigorously advocate on issues that are of concern
to local school communities
The Legislation Team meets monthly and actively
invites all parents and interested citizens to get
informed and involved. We hope you'll join us by
reading GET SMART regularly, clicking on the helpful
links provided, and giving us your impressions and
opinions. To find out more about our Mission and
Goals, click here:
http://www.lastrampaspta.org/mission.html
For a list of the Legislation Team monthly meetings,
click here:
http://www.lastrampaspta.org/legcomm/meetings.html
Las Trampas Creek Council manages a Legislative
Alert email system
to keep people educated and informed, and to let you
know about urgent education budget and legislative
proposals that need citizen action to make positive
changes in Sacramento. You can subscribe to the
Legislative Alert system by visiting our web site at
http://www.lastrampaspta.org
or filling in your email address in the box to the
left. Our organized efforts
are the
most effective way to improve education not only for
our schools, but for California as a whole. No
amount
of fundraising can replace the passage of just one
vital piece of legislation!
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MEASURES A and B
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This March 8th: VOTE YES on Measures A
and
B. The process to achieve State education
budget
reform is a long one. In the meantime, local
communities are stepping up to the plate to protect
and preserve our excellent K-12 public schools. Two
important parcel tax proposals will be on the March 8,
2004 ballot to help offset the loss of state funding
and avoid classroom curriculum and staffing cuts.
Both offer exemptions for seniors and an
independent oversight committee to ensure funding
accountability. Both also require a 2/3 majority to
approve this critical funding:
Measure A is a parcel tax to support the
Acalanes Union High School District, consisting of
Acalanes, Campolindo, Miramonte and Las Lomas High
Schools. Without passage of Measure A the
Acalanes Board will be required to make $1.6 million in
classroom
and staffing cuts by March 15th. Click here for more
information:
http://www.aboutmeasurea.com/
Measure B is a parcel tax to support the
Kindergarten through 8th grade schools in the Walnut
Creek School District, to retain quality teachers,
maintain small class sizes, keep classroom computers
and technology up to date, and secure and preserve
school library funding. Click here for more
information:
http://www.aboutmeasureb.com/
The Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs has
endorsed both Measures A and B. Please vote YES
by absentee ballot or in person by March 8th!!
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Advocacy Day
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Power in Numbers - We're Going to
Sacramento on April 19th! Do you feel
helpless as an individual citizen to effect changes in
State education issues? Fear not. On April 19, 2005,
Las Trampas Creek Council and other local PTA
organizations will
sponsor a trip to Sacramento. This
annual event now attracts almost 300 concerned
parents and citizens. We will travel via comfortable
chartered buses, receive lunch, and meet education
experts and our local State Legislative
Representatives. With our numbers, this trip
commands the attention not only of State
Representatives Loni Hancock, Tom Torlakson and
Guy Houston, but legislators from other districts as
well. Expand your knowledge with reader-friendly
information and interactive discussions with
government experts and other concerned citizens.
Help define the reforms and issues that our
State officials should address. Book the date, sign
up with a friend, and watch for more details coming
to you in the next GET SMART issue and through your
school parent organizations. You can print a
registration form by clicking here:
http://www.lastrampaspta.org/ and selecting
the ADVOCACY DAY FLYER under the Take Action
selection of the Legislation Team section.
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In the next issue.....
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How is it that education funding in California has
become the crisis that is now the focus of so much
citizen, legislative, and media debate?
Our next issue of GET SMART On Education will try to
shed some light on this issue!
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