SAVE THE DATES  

From President  

Karen Fleck  

March 21, 2012

Greetings!   

We have a chance to do something big here in California. When California PTA members were surveyed, the number one issue was adequate funding for schools. Now we have an initiative PTA helped write which will restore funding to our schools - not just for three or four years, but for the next 12 years.   

This is so important we're devoting this entire issue to the Our Children, Our Future initiative. We have about three weeks to get 10,000 signatures from PTA family and friends and help put this initiative on the November ballot. 

If every PTA in Ninth District gathers 50 signatures, we can do it!   

Under Our Children, Our Future, $10 to $11 billion dollars would go direct to schools each year without stopping in Sacramento. Politicians in Sacramento are prohibited from interfering. To put this in perspective, one of our largest  County high schools - Rancho Buena Vista High - would receive over $3 million in the first full year of implementation (2013-14) and that amount would increase to $5.3 million in 2017-18!    

Every single public school in California - including charters - will get this funding and every single dollar will go to improve student's academic performance.

This isn't going to be easy - we have to take it step by step. Step one is to get this initiative on the ballot. Join us by gathering 50 signatures from the friends and families of your PTA. Together we'll do something big.

 Karen  

P.S.  Go to the benefits calculator and find out how much money your school or school district will receive under Our Children, Our Future.  

    If you'll be gathering signatures at a community event, please email me and I'll include in next week's Observer to help promote your event and gather more signatures.

Around 6 pm every Thursday (until April 10th, our signature gathering deadline!) we'll be hosting pizza parties at the Our Children, Our Future campaign office. Please join us on Thursday to turn in any petitions with signatures (they don't need to be full) and to pick up more petitions and materials!

Our Children, Our Future
San Diego Campaign Office

2810 Camino Del Rio South, Suite #114

Mission Valley, San Diego  92108

Bring a friend and please share this with other PTA folks!

We're asking all PTAs to set up a "Friends and Family Friday" event near your school every Friday through April 6. It's as simple as getting one or two PTA volunteers to set up a card table right outside of school grounds for either morning drop-off or afternoon pick up. Volunteers will share information about the initiative and the funds it can bring to their specific school, ask parents to sign the petition and even sign up parents who want to collect signatures themselves. The campaign will provide signs, stickers and pens to give to people who sign the petition. It's a great way to connect with the people who have the most to gain from the initiative!