PLAC Friends,

Happy New Year!  We are less than one month away from the start of the Legislative Session.  Our “Parents & Policymakers” Luncheon will be Friday, January 18th from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm.  This is a great opportunity to share your opinions about education issues with our elected officials.

The luncheon will begin with a topic that weighs heavily on all of our minds: the safety of our students and those who work in our schools.  We are pleased that Lt. Governor Lamb, Chairman of the Commission on School Security, will give opening remarks.  He will brief us on what the Commission is doing, and their findings to date.  Following his remarks we will continue the luncheon with our dialog with legislators.  The following legislators have confirmed they plan to attend:

Rep. Lee Denney
Rep. Katie Henke
Rep. Dennis Casey
Rep. Jason Nelson
Sen. Gary Stanislawski

Our meetings in the fall have focused on several important areas.  Additional funding for education this year is critical.  Money must be designated to fund the mandated reforms of recent years.  Additionally, increased funds must be allocated to the school funding formula, which will allow the restoration of cut programs and hiring of more teachers to lower class sizes.  We are spending a great deal of money on our state testing program, and counselors spend more time as testing coordinators, and less time counseling students.  This is troubling on very many levels.  I hope everyone is gathering data from their school administrators on the number of hours spent on testing, and the amount of instruction time which is disrupted each year.

If you are planning to attend, let your legislator know you hope they are able to join this important discussion regarding education policy.

Thanks in advance for your efforts this spring!
Melissa