Dear Members and Concerned Citizens of Arizona,

As we all know, K-12 public education in Arizona is still reeling from hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts suffered over the past few fiscal years. The governor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 includes cuts to K-12 education totaling approximately $125 million.  Yesterday, March 16th, 2011, the Senate worked late into the night to pass a budget that includes devastating cuts to K-12 education.  This is no surprise considering the extreme make-up of the Senate.  The Senate budget cuts over $260 million from K-12 funding.

I am asking for your help with this statewide issue.  No single issue carries more impact than Arizona’s budget for fiscal year 2012.  Accordingly, contact from our members, leaders, parents, and concerned citizens to the governor and their legislators is key and will be critical over the next week. This is what we can do and we must do to stop these terrible cuts from being put into place. Your stories are key to painting an accurate and critically needed story of the impact on programs, personnel, and students of continued cuts to public education.  You can and should contact members of the House of Representatives that represent your area as well as respond to this posting. We know the cuts in the Creighton School District this year have not been nice and with loosing positions which have impact on students and services, it will make running our schools very different. Even if you’re position has not yet been eliminated, you still can tell your story of how we have been frozen on salary advancement for the past three years, this year we have an increase in retirement contributions, we’re also paying a portion of our medical insurance cost, and for many who are on the career ladder program, we’re facing a loss in salary there as well. You can share how the limited resources we have in our district have impacted us doing even more than what we are now doing. We’ll see the number of our colleagues in our buildings decrease because of loss of enrollment in our schools done by natural staffing. I don’t mean to paint a gloom picture, however, it is very dark out there right now and will be even darker if these cuts make their way into implementation.

One last request: Our messaging to policy makers will be impassioned and powerful, but it must in all cases be professional.  No matter what the temptation and outrage you may feel, I urge you to create impact through facts, examples, and stories – rather than through the rhetoric of anger and accusation.  We want our messages read thoroughly if they are to have any effect on policy makers’ decisions. We face an immediate opportunity to minimize the damage done to our schools through the remainder of the legislative session, particularly as the state budget is forwarded to the House and then to the governor.  Over the next few weeks there will be other specific actions where you may be asked to organize local response.  Thank you for your leadership and cooperation.

Copy the link below to send a message to your elected officials about the budget cuts and tell your personal story about the impact these cuts will have.  Our messages to policy makers should be impassioned and powerful, but must also be professional.  No matter what the temptation and outrage you may feel, we urge you to create impact through facts, examples, and stories – rather than through the rhetoric of anger and accusation.  We want our messages read thoroughly if they are to have any effect on policy makers’ decisions.

http://capwiz.com/nea/az/utr/1/ANAZPEOXJW/HXSDPEPAVW/6625511481

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Respectfully,
Jason Schnee

President

Creighton Education Association