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Greetings!
![[Photo: Child with stethascope. Kate Samp for Strategies for Children]](http://eyeonearlyeducation.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/kes_7258_camb-girl-stethoscope_med-res.jpg?w=199&h=300) We can make sure that each and every child in our state is given the opportunity to learn - building a better state for everyone - young and old.
Education is obviously good for our boys and girls - building better futures for them and for their families, but it is also good for our neighborhoods - keeping local youth engaged in school and work opportunities, and for our businesses - laying the strong foundation of an educated workforce that attracts better employers and jobs to our state. Students, teachers, and education advocates have been active voices on Beacon Hill lately, advocating for youth of all ages: 600 Advocate for Early Education at MA State House. "A handful of the 600 early educators and their supporters who filled the State House's Great Hall last Thursday wore t-shirts that said "I am College-Bound Dorchester." Early education? College-bound? This is precisely the kind of connection that advocates want to impress upon Beacon Hill legislators. Research says that low-income children who attend a high-quality early education program are twice as likely to go to college..." [Article] Patrick Calls on Teen Job-Seekers to Bring Fight to Private Sector. Although he promised to support youth jobs in the state budget, Gov. Deval Patrick told a State House auditorium packed with urban youths Thursday that they should lobby the private sector for employment opportunities... The group is urging lawmakers to support Patrick's proposal to fund a youth jobs program, YouthWorks... The group also distributed a Northeastern University study issued this month showing that since 1999 teen employment has plummeted in Massachusetts from 54.3 percent -- 13th-highest in the nation -- to 29.8 percent, 25th-highest in the nation and the lowest rate since before World War II. [SHNS] Education is just one example of the many public structures that make our state a better place to live - structures we cannot build or maintain as individuals. Our staff and network is constantly working with nonprofit organizations and community members to build our network's capacity and confidence in advocating for policy and budget priorities. Training is available from the most basic introduction to multi-day workshops for savvy advocates. If you are interested in attending or hosting a free local training, please feel free to contact me today!
Sincerely,
Harmony Blakeway
Director of Operations, ONE Massachusettsharmony@realclout.org | 617-999-8469 |
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TOMORROW: Raise Your Voice...
Ways and Means Public Hearing at the State House
Looking for an opportunity to advocate for additional revenue for your priority - and for overall revenue reform? It's probably worth it for you to make a plan to bring two of your most sympathetic and articulate community members to the Ways and Means hearing TOMORROW, Friday, March 4th at 10am in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House.
If you haven't already done so, plan on talking to the main television stations, the two state house reporters from the Globe and the Herald, and especially the State House News Service. For more information on preparing for these types of events, check out last week's Just in Time Advice blog post from Hecate on RealClout.
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Budgets From a Broader Perspective...
How Other States Are Dealing With Fiscal Issues
We have all seen news on the union battles that started in Wisconsin and Ohio. Despite public support for these unions, some state governments are turning to public employee pay and benefit cuts to bring their budgets into alignment.
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But while these teacher-led conflicts are certainly getting a lot of national attention - check out this week's Angry Curds story from Jon Stewart - they are not the only nationwide budget story out there. Like Massachusetts, most states across the country are dealing with multi-million (or billion) dollar deficits, caused both by our current economic downturn and by the wide array of tax cuts that started during during the 1990's and triggered state budget problems starting nearly a decade ago.
Despite fiscal hardships, each state is still responsible for each of its residents - to make sure each man, woman, and child has the opportunity to live, work, and learn in safe, healthy communities. So how are other states affected by fiscal deficits - and how are they dealing with them? Here are just a few recent examples from the NY Times:
- Police Departments Turn to Volunteers. "Hamstrung by shrinking budgets, the police say the volunteers are indispensable in dealing with low-level offenses and allow sworn officers to focus on more pressing crimes and more violent criminals." [Article]
- Governors Seek Help on Medicaid Costs. Governors told Congress on Tuesday that President Obama had not gone far enough in proposing to let states opt out of major provisions of the new health care law in 2014, and they said they needed more immediate relief from the growing financial burden of Medicaid... "In this recession," [Gov. Gary R. Herbert] said, "Medicaid enrollment has skyrocketed..." [Article]
- Public Universities Seek More Autonomy as Financing From States Shrinks. With states providing a dwindling share of money for higher education, many states and public universities are rethinking their ties... As a result, the fundamental model for supporting higher education is being reconsidered, with many universities winning greater autonomy - sometimes even in setting tuition. [Article]
States are doing all they can do to keep their governments functioning effectively, but cuts aren't our only option. ONE Massachusetts and its allies are currently working on more balanced, adequate and stable solutions for reforming our own state's revenue.
For more information on how you or your organization can get involved, please contact us today!
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Redrawing Districts...
Chair Vows to Save Minority Voice
"The chairman of the House redistricting committee, hoping to avoid the kind of racially charged lawsuit that upended the redistricting process a decade ago, has promised to preserve the influence of minority voters in the Eighth Congressional District, which includes Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, and Somerville...
Maintaining the voice of minority voters in the district is one of several highly charged challenges facing state lawmakers as they redraw the state's congressional districts. Lawmakers will have to wrestle with that issue while cutting the total number of districts from 10 to 9, which could force two of the state's current US representatives to run against each other." [Article: Boston Globe]
ONE Mass ally, MassVOTE, is currently working ways to get the diverse voices involved in this process. Contact them today or stay tuned to future newsletters for ways that you can get involved!
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Nominate Your Heroine...
100 Extraordinary Massachusetts Women to be Honored
 "Thousands of women from every community of the state perform unheralded acts on a daily basis that make our homes, neighborhoods, cities and towns better places to live. They are the Unsung Heroines who use their time, talent, spirit and enthusiasm to enrich the lives of others..."
Any individual may nominate one or more Massachusetts woman. Awardees will be contacted and invited to attend a ceremony in their honor at the State House on May 18, 2011. Deadline to submit applications is March 15th. [Nomination Form]
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 Free Training to Organizations Statewide
We can focus more closely on our current revenue options, or you can request a more broad introduction to how our state ended up in this fiscal situation, how and why we make certain budget and revenue decisions, and how we can talk to our friends and neighbors (and public officials!) about these issues.
Contact us today for more information!
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 Want more information on ONE Massachusetts and how you can get involved? Check out our: |
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