Oregon PTA Virtual Lobbying Day – President’s Day: February 18, 2013

• Introduce yourself. 
• Briefly state why you are writing.The Oregon PTA wants your legislators to know that you are keeping track of what they are doing in Salem and that you care about every child in the state of Oregon, andsubsequently that Oregon PTA is watching as well.
• Tell a personal story about how the cuts in education funding have affected you especially with increased class sizes and lost programs.
• Thank the legislator for their concern and service. 
• Offer to be available to the legislator if they should have questions or need further information. 
• Provide your preferred contact information and respectfully sign off.
• Please include OPTARegion2@gmail.com in the CC so we can keep track of people responding. We want to help build the connection with our legislators.

Where to send the message:

If you want to find your legislator, here is a link you can follow where you just put in your address and it will list all of your representatives, nationally and in Oregon.   www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/ , or go to the list below.

If that is too much of a hassle here are the legislators associated with each school address.  You can use the school which is nearest to your home and you will most likely be okay.

Schools:

Sunnyside

Senator:  Diane Rosenbaum     www.leg.state.or.us/rosenbaum

Representative:  Jules Kopel Bailey      www.leg.state.or.us/bailey

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Example Email:

“My name is Scott Overton and I am an advocate for children and education.  I am a member of the PTA at Grant HS and the father of two boys, Joe and Adam. I am interested in Oregon reinvesting in education and making sure that all children have access to a bright future.  So I am asking you to make sure that the percentage of the state budget dedicated to education does not further decline and even increases with the result of a no cut budget for schools throughout Oregon.  My children, Joe and Adam, are very different in how they learn.  Joe can independently learn most material and does quite well in every class situation.  But Adam is not so lucky.  He requires extra time to understand his work and in second year Algebra he has 35 other students in his class which means the teacher cannot spend much time with him.  Luckily the teacher has made herself available after hours to help students and Adam is taking advantage of this but I fear there are many in his class that are not able to come during lunch or after school because of responsibilities outside of school and they are not getting the time they need from the teacher to understand the concepts. The teacher should have fewer students so that she can attend to every student during the class period.  Thank you, Representative Dembrow, for listening to my concern and for your service to our community.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need further information.  I am available to help make education work in Oregon.

Sincerely, Scott Overton

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Just one more way to get involved in School Funding and Advocacy in Oregon! Let me know if you have questions and keep an eye out in the SES Messenger for a new section all about this blog and Public Education Advocacy opportunities each week.