A vote on the proposed cuts to K-12 education is expected this week. This will be our last chance to stop the raid on the School Aid Fund and restore the cuts to schools. It’s time for a final push!

Today we are asking that you email lawmakers and urge them to oppose the budget deal reached last week. In the coming days we will also ask you to call your local legislators and drive the message home.

Even if you have already emailed your lawmakers or made phone calls, we need your help to keep up the pressure during this critical period. Your efforts are truly making a difference and you are helping drive the debate in Lansing.

Keep up the good work and TAKE ACTION NOW!!!

This week, please do the following:

1. Send an email to lawmakers.
2. Post this alert to your Facebook.
3. Tweet this alert to your followers.
4. Forward this page to a friend and engage your grassroots network to STOP THE RAID ON SCHOOL AID.

State has funds to restore education cuts: Revenue Consensus Shows $500 M Surplus

We are two weeks away from the Legislature’s self-imposed May 31 budget deadline. The pressure you are putting on your lawmakers to stop the raid on the School Aid Fund and restore the promise of Proposal A is working. We need to keep it up.

Even if you have already emailed your lawmakers or made phone calls, we need your help to keep up the pressure during the critical period. Your efforts are truly making a difference and you are helping drive the debate in Lansing!

This week, the May consensus revenue estimates were released. The projected revenue increases put to bed once and for all the fallacy that the state doesn’t have the money to restore cuts to schools. Even with the projected loss in revenue from the tax changes recently enacted, the state government has enough revenue to stop the raid on the School Aid Fund, restore the harmful cuts to districts, and still balance the general fund budget.

This week, our request is simple: tell lawmakers to use the surplus revenue identified to restore the promise of Proposal A and offset the unnecessary cuts proposed to K-12 education. TAKE ACTION to make your voice heard and keep up the pressure.

It’s time to send our message viral. This week, we need you to use your connections to pressure the Michigan Legislature to restore the devastating cuts they are making to public education. Take the following actions:

1. On Monday, the House Fiscal Agency released its quarterly Revenue Review which showed that the state has collected $455 million more in total state revenue than was projected in January of this year. These are actual revenues, not projections and are in addition to any additional revenue that comes out as part of the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference on Monday, May 16. Click here to send an email to your lawmakers and tell them to use this existing money to offset cuts to K-12 education.
2. SEND THIS ALERT VIRAL! Pass this alert along to everyone you know who values public education. Click here to post it to Facebook. Click here to tweet this alert.
3. The final stages of the budget process are going to move quickly. Make sure to click here to follow MASA_GOV on twitter for the latest information and alerts. Like us on Facebook and check back often for breaking news and information.

Online responses to news articles shape public debate and drive lawmakers’ opinions. Local and state media outlets have been covering the raid on the school aid fund and public comments in response to these articles have been mixed. It is time to turn the tide!

This week please take the following actions:

1. Monitor your state and local media outlets and respond in the comments section to articles about education funding
2. Repost supportive articles on social media outlets (Twitter, Facebook, etc)
3. More people are getting their news from non-traditional media (especially blogs). If you write a blog, now would be a good time to post an article about the raid on school funding. If you follow a blog suggest such an article to the blog’s author

This week the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate will be voting to cut K-12 Education by almost $900 million dollars. These funds are being transferred through community colleges and universities to the State General Fund to pay for things like prisons. This is the largest proposed cut to education by any Governor or Legislature in history.

Take a stand now to oppose these cuts. Click here to email your lawmakers and tell them NOT TO RAID THE SCHOOL AID FUND!

The countdown continues to the projected May 31 budget passage. This week’s task in our 11-Week Stop the Raid campaign is to host a press conference to raise awareness in your community—and with local reporters and editorial boards—about the effects proposed cuts will have on children, families, and school employees.

To make it easier, we’ve put together a “how-to” guide to walk you through the process of hosting a press conference. We’ve also provided templates for a media advisory and press release for you to personalize with local details.

With seven weeks left before the legislature self-imposed budget deadline, it’s time to get our story out to the media. Parents and students need to understand what the local impact of the proposed budget decisions will be in their communities. Local newspapers are not only one of the best ways to get out your personalized story to your local community, but lawmakers as well.

This week, please do the following:

1. Send a letter to the editor to your local newspaper. Click here to be directed to an action alert where you can edit our template letter and TELL YOUR LOCAL STORY.
2. Forward this message to your key communicator list. Visit www.gomasa.org/stop-the-raid if you would like additional information.

Eight weeks remain before the legislature’s self imposed budget deadline (May 31st). During this time, MASA’s Government Relations team will help outline and implement an action plan to help members engage their staffs and communities in a campaign to STOP THE RAID on Michigan’s School Aid Fund. MASA urges members to join us in fighting this unprecedented attack on public school funding.

Join us as we call on legislators to STOP THE RAID and to protect School Aid Fund dollars for Michigan’s K-12 schools!

8 Weeks: This week elected officials will be back in the district for spring recess. It is crucial that they understand that this raid on school districts constitutes a broken promise to Michigan voters who gave up the right through Proposal A to raise local funds to support their schools. This week plan on doing the following:

1. In district visit: Every month your elected officials schedule coffee hours or an opportunity for you to meet and discuss issues with them while they are in the district. To find out when your legislator has theirs scheduled simply call their office or visit their website by clicking here.
2. Plan a trip to Lansing: Use the talking points provided to contact your representative and schedule a time where you can visit with them in Lansing.
3. Spread the word: The Lansing State Journal recently published AN editorial urging lawmakers not to cut K-12 spending. Take a moment to read the editorial and share it with you grassroots network. Click on the twitter, facebook and share links to make this important story viral.
4. Forward this message to your key communicator list. Visit www.gomasa.org/stop-the-raid if you would like additional information.

The legislature will be on spring recess during the weeks of March 28 – April 8. During this time invite your lawmaker to your district to share your story. We have listed a few suggestions below:

1. Administrators – Invite your lawmaker to the district. Plan time to sit down and discuss your budget in detail. The message is simple: 
   • Discuss what cuts and efforts towards service sharing your district has made. 
   • Discuss the size of the proposed cuts on your district and the likely programs impacted.  
   • Discuss how reforms proposed so far are not enough. Communicate how much you would still have to cut even after State mandated reforms were put in place (80/20 health co-pay, etc). 
2. School Board Members – Invite your lawmaker to attend your next school board meeting. This is a prime opportunity to discuss how proposed cuts will impact the implementation of programs in your district. Adopt a resolution which asks the legislature to avoid devastating cuts to education (click here for template). Send your resolution to your lawmaker as well as a copy to Michigan Association of School Boards who will be collecting them statewide (Peter Spadafore; pspadafore@masb.org). 
3. Parents – Encourage your local PTSA to invite lawmakers to a regularly scheduled PTA meeting. At this meeting discuss how projected cuts will impact parents, teachers and students of your district. This is a prime opportunity to discuss how education cuts will impact a community at the most important level. Use the talking points provided on this page.
4. Coordinate a Budget Teach-In – SOS Michigan is asking that superintendents begin by talking with other local officials, superintendents, PTSA and AARP leaders in their area and to begin planning for a budget teach-in. It can be done on a district by district or regional basis, whichever works best for you. 
   
   Who: Parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors and concerned Michiganders. We are NOT trying to pack the room with teachers, administrators and board members
   
   What: A fact-based community forum to inform the public on the numbers behind the Governor’s proposal, and how it will affect a broad cross section of state and local services.
   
   Where: Your hometown, at least one event in every legislative district across the state. When: Pick an evening some time from April 14 to 21.

We ask that you take the following actions in week 10:

1. Send a letter to Senate and House education committee members. While these members may not be your direct legislator, they will have a role in determining potential funding in your district. Click here to be directed to an action alert where you can write them and tell your story.
2. Forward this message to your key communicator list.

1. Bookmark MASA’s STOP THE RAID (the page you are on now) and set a reminder to check it each Tuesday.
2. Review and share the following fact sheets:
   • Talking Points
   • By the Numbers
   • “Shared Sacrifice” list
   • HFA analysis with district impact
   • School Aid Fund - House Fiscal Agency presentation on the history and performance of the SAF
3. Prepare to sound the alarm to your community.
   • KNOW and SHARE your own numbers: how will the proposed cuts affect your budget?
   • DESCRIBE what you’ve already cut, and how you are saving through collaboration efforts.
   • CREATE a vision for the schools you want, and what kind of resources it will take to achieve the vision.
   • Be SPECIFIC about the services children need and the services and programs that they will lose.
4. Create a key communicator list with the goal of engaging every person in the community that education cuts will affect.
   • Identify the leaders of key staff and community groups who will spread important message and action alerts.
   • Gather their email addresses and compile them into an easy-to-access list.
   • When you receive future action alerts or key messages from MASA or other sources, immediately forward them to key communicators with a request to forward again to their networks.