930 Georgia Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015-1322 (213) 620-1100 . FAX (213)620-1411 . Email info@capta.org . www.capta.org

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  To: PTA District, Council and Unit Leaders
  From: Cecelia Mansfield, Director of Legislation
  Re: PTA Caravan for Kids Advocacy Kit

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  With the Caravan for Kids campaign in full swing, California State PTA members are mobilizing as never before to ensure parents’ and children's voices are heard in Sacramento at this crucial time. PTA leaders are organizing events locally on April 27th and we'll all come together to rally at the State Capitol on Thursday, April 28 at Noon!

  Following the Rally (or in some cases before it), we need PTA members to visit their assembly and state representatives to advocate for increasing education funding for our children. They need and want to hear from you! Visiting your elected officials is a critical component of Caravan for Kids!

  This is a pivotal point in the budget deliberations. If your delegation has not yet made your appointments, please do so today. (Refer to www.leginfo.ca.gov to find your representatives by zip code.)

  Included in the attached PTA Caravan for Kids Advocacy Kit:

  1. PTA Delegation Leader Form. Please complete and return it to the California State PTA office via fax (916) 442-0906 or email ptaadvocacy@aol.com. Please return this form by May 9.
     
     
  2. Talking Points for your use in visiting your legislators in Sacramento on either April 28th or 29th.
     
     
  3. PTA Agenda to Make California Schools Great Again - one each for your assembly and state representatives. The PTA Agenda calls on our elected officials not only to restore funding to the education budget as promised last year, but also to state their commitment to the future of our schools and our kids.
     
     Please ask your legislators to endorse the PTA Agenda! We want them on the record – who supports making our schools great again, and who does not? If your elected officials sign the agenda, please take it with you and return it either by fax or mail to the California State PTA office.
     
     If they do not sign it on the spot, please follow up with them the week of May 2 in their local office. PTA will make our endorsement list public in mid-May. If we don't have a form from your legislators by May 9, they will not be on the endorsement list.
     
     
  4. Your Special Interest Photo Frame. A leave-behind for your legislator and a reminder of the “special interest” you’re advocating for.
     
     
• It has never been more important to make our voices heard in Sacramento. Thank you for all of your hard work, and I look forward to seeing you at Convention and at the Rally!

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1. The California State PTA is launching a Caravan for Kids – the largest mobilization of parents in California history – to protect school children from harmful funding cuts. PTA members across California are rallying in their communities and traveling to Sacramento on April 27-28 to give children a voice at the State Capitol.
   
   
2. California’s schools have suffered many years of severe under-funding. California’s school spending is among the lowest in the nation.
   A recent study by the RAND Corporation finds that California's K-12 school system has fallen from being a national leader 30 years ago in nearly every objective category to its current ranking near the bottom of all 50 states. California ranks first in the nation in number of school-age children, and for 10 years has spent "well below" the national average per student.
   
   
3. . Funding cuts have caused increased class sizes and the loss of teachers, librarians, school nurses and education programs vital to our children. California has some of the most overcrowded classrooms, and the lowest number of librarians and counselors per student in the nation. Many schools lack basic supplies and instructional materials, and nearly one of every 10 students in California attends a school with no nurse on staff.
   
   Background: In the last four years, California schools suffered more than $9.8 billion in cuts. Here’s what it has meant here in our community …
   
   What has been cut from your schools? Librarians, teachers, programs, etc? How much has been cut from your school district budget in the last few years? What has that meant for your schools? What will it mean to your district should the governor’s budget pass? What will be lost? Who will that affect? How many teachers in your area received pink slips on March 15?
   
   
4. The Governor's proposed education budget breaks a promise that kids are counting on and would further harm our schools.
   It breaks the promise he made only one year ago to California's schools to restore money due under Proposition 98, a voter-approved Constitutional measure that guarantees a minimum funding level for our schools.
   
   Last year, the Governor withheld $2 billion from schools in a one-time suspension of Proposition 98. Education community leaders agreed to forego these funds in order to avoid more harmful cuts in future years, provided that the withheld funds be restored this year. Schools across the state relied upon and budgeted for this repayment. Despite the fact that state revenues are actually higher this year than projected when the promise was made, Governor Schwarzenegger wants to renege on this promise.
   
   Background: Don't be fooled by claims that this budget increases funding to schools. While it does include a slight increase in actual dollars, that increase is offset by higher cost-of-living expenditures that school districts are required to make. In addition, this budget tries to shift teacher pension costs from the state payroll onto local schools. The proposed per-student increase of state funds in the 2005-06 budget is about 2.1%, which is less than school districts’ cost-of-living increase in expenditures of 3.9% -- again, resulting in net lost revenue for schools and additional cuts. What the Governor's education budget gives with one hand, it takes with the other.
   
   
5. It's time to renew California's commitment to education and properly invest in our children's education to make California's public schools the best in the nation again! PTA is calling upon our elected officials to do two things:
   1. Keep the promise made last year and restore and affirm all of the provisions included in Proposition 98; delete the provision shifting state education costs to local school districts; and include a cost of living increase that reflects the real costs facing schools today.
   2. Make a commitment to our children's future by developing and supporting a plan to ensure that student achievement and per pupil funding in California schools shall place among the top ten states in our nation again by 2015. Let's make California schools great again.

Parents and children protest the
Governor’s proposed education budget!

Join us as we call for Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to:

• Honor their promise to restore $2 billion to California schools.
• Uphold Proposition 98 – Constitutional funding guarantee for public schools approved by the voters.
• Rebuild California’s commitment to education
  
  

Thursday, April 28
12:00 – 1:00
Sacramento - Capitol Steps
On “L” Street at 11th

We will make history. Be a part of it.