Advocacy News from the Council: September 2017
Hello fellow Advocates!
After our General Meeting, I wanted to follow-up and provide you with on the Action Items we discussed.
As you know, the definition of an advocate is a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. Through PTA, we focus on those issues that affect our children such as education/education funding, health & wellness, juvenile justice, gun safety, etc.
A couple of items to keep on your radar:
*GA Department of Education’s ESSA Plan – ESSA is the Every Student Succeeds ACT, which is legislation that replaces No Child Left Behind. The draft is currently in the hands of the Governor, and he has 30 days to review. The Plan will then be submitted to the Department of Education on September 18, 2017. Please keep in mind that this plan is to take effect during the 2017 – 2018 school year. So, I would suggest that you take some time to speak with your administrators on how your PTA can support the school with its achievements.
Please visit www.gadoe.org/essa to review the ESSA plan, as well as the CCRPI (College & Career Readiness Performance Index) redesign.
*STOP Cuts to Classrooms – Federal funding for public education programs has remained at 2% of the Federal budget for decades, despite the increase in public school enrollment and the rising cost of education resources and services. National PTA is running a nationwide campaign until September 29th to raise public awareness that current levels of federal education funding are an inadequate investment in our children.
In order to make this initiative a success, please participate in the STOP Cuts to Classrooms campaign. You can visit www.pta.org/stopcuts to SIGN the petition and download a campaign toolkit.
The 2018 Georgia Legislative Session begins in January 2018. There was a lot of work done in 2017, but the work will continue in the next session. I urge you ALL to read your Advocacy News from the South Cobb Council and SIGN UP for the GA PTA Advocacy Network and bookmark the Capitol Watch website. You can also SIGN UP for the PTA Takes Action Network with National PTA. You will receive news AND alerts on when it’s time to mobilize and advocate!!
Yours in advocacy,
LeResa James
Legislative Chair
South Cobb Council
