From Steve Norton of Michigan Parents for Schools:
Neither the Senate nor House Education
committees acted on the EAA bills (HB 6004/SB 1358) in their meetings
today. Negotiations to find changes that will attract a majority are
ongoing, but a number of Republican legislators are really digging their
heels in on this one, despite great pressure from their leadership. The
$64K question now is if the bills will continue to sit in committee or
be discharged straight to the floor. In either case, by the time a vote
takes place, the die will be cast. (They won't bring it to a public vote
unless they know they have the votes.) This is why keeping the pressure
on now is so important.
What's critical right now is that
those legislators who are resisting the huge pressure to vote for some
kind of EAA bill get our thanks. Republican members have been told that
they should never bother defending public schools because the "education
people" will never give them credit or thanks.
Strong,
community governed public schools don't have to be a partisan issue -
they didn't use to be. Even if you disagree with your legislator on
other issues, when they do the right thing on education you should let
them know that you noticed it and appreciate it. (Likewise, when they
don't do right by our schools, you should let them know that you saw
that, too, and will remember.) That goes for members of either party.
This kind of stuff matters more than you might expect.
