Welcome Back
Dear Parents, Principals, Teachers, and Administrators,
Welcome to the 2009-10 school year. We hope that everyone had a fun and safe summer. We've had some fun as well while continuing our work on education funding and reform and laying the groundwork for this school year. We've met with many parent groups like ours in different counties across Florida. We're talking regularly with educators, administrators, Mayors, business leaders, economic development councils and researchers at major universities such as Johns Hopkins, Stanford and William and Mary. We attended the Lawton Chiles Leadership Conference and participated in the Federal Department of Education listening tour to voice our view of the problems here in the state. Our efforts are directed toward sculpting a vision for education excellence for the state of Florida.
Many of you are familiar with our purpose and have received our email alerts since we began in February of last year. Your decision to become an advocate is crucial to affecting change and we welcome you as our partners as we continue this important undertaking. Our work this year is crucial because it paves the way for what happens after the stimulus money runs out in 18 short months.
For those of you who are new, www.FundEducationNow.org is a permanent, non-partisan grassroots group created by parents to inspire and empower voters to advocate on behalf of Florida's children to make public education a priority. All of us- parents, teachers, principals, administrators, and concerned citizens, have collectively come to believe that Florida's public education crisis is about more than money.
Florida ranks between 45th and 50th on every child-related issue. That's an unfortunate truth. If the solution were all about money, our problems would be relatively easy to change. The way our state repeatedly fails to invest in its kids has never really been about money. It's about philosophy.
The philosophy of hoping that we will earn enough money in the year ahead to pay for what we're spending today has led us to this point. Growth is not a product and hope is not a plan. We have a 50% graduation rate. We are the third largest state. According to All For Education, dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost Florida almost $25.3 billion in lost wages over their lifetimes.
That figure is the tip of the iceberg. That's why we've focused so intently on bringing all of the various groups in our state together. Happily, this alliance is very close to materializing. Our newly renovated website www.fundeducationnow.org features a page for each of Florida's 67 school districts and we provide a daily news feed of education issues on www.twitter.com/fundeducationfl as they appear across the state.
Reading the alerts and articles contrasts each district's local issues against the challenges facing Florida, leading to a deeper understanding of the whole problem. Becoming familiar with the key elements will help you to better communicate with your elected officials and accurately explain the situation to your friends, legislators and family. It will also make you an informed voter.
- Visit our website, www.fundeducationnow.org and sign up to receive our alert
- Check our your county page on our site and continue to write, email and call your legislators. Let them know how important this issue is to you.
- Follow us on www.twitter.com/fundeducationnowfl to read the latest education news from around the state and the country or find them on our BLOG.
- Forward our information to your friends, family and school to help spread the word
Our kids need every one of us to fight for them. No one is expendable on this road to changing how we deliver education in this state. Please join us in this important and historic journey as we show our kids and our peers how the power of a true grassroots movement can accomplish what a host of elected officials bound by gridlock and a predetermined agenda cannot.
Warm regards,
Kathleen Oropeza
Christine Bramuchi
Linda Kobert
Founders, FundEducationNow