Jodi+Geyer+5

= A small group of us have the opportunity to meet with Representative Saccone on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 3 p.m. As per his instructions, we are only permitted to take three people to this meeting, and all of our knowledge of Saccone indicates that he is not interested in the views of educators. Therefore, it is imperative that we get our point across in any way possible. I believe that the best way to do this is to take as many letters as possible to him, all of which will say that he will lose our votes if he votes in favor of SB1 or any cuts to educational funding. Your help is desperately needed! Please write a letter, have your spouse write a letter, your friends, your neighbors, even your children-and let Saccone know that he will not be re-elected if he votes in favor of cutting education. He has told several people that he campaigned door-to-door and all of his constituents are against raising taxes. We need to let him know that we are his constituents too, and that we won’t stand for anything less than a renunciation of Corbett’s proposed budget. Below are several short and to the point letters to Representative Saccone. Please feel free to use any or all of them whole or in part when you are composing your own letter. Make sure to sign your name in ink and include your address so that he knows you are his constituent. send your letter via inter-office mail or mail to me at: =

= = =Jodi Geyer = = 451 Cedar Drive   = = Elizabeth, PA 15037   = = =

= = = = = In Solidarity, = = Jodi Geyer =

= = =

= = = = Dear Representative Saccone, = = = = Hello. My name is (insert name) and I am one of your constituents from the (name of school district). I am also an advocate of public education and do not believe that Governor Corbett’s proposed budget will benefit the children of my district. My district relies on Block Grant funds to provide all-day kindergarten, and this vital component to early education is in jeopardy. I do not support any cuts in education and firmly believe that funding our children will fund our futures. As my representative, I need you to find a way to promote public education and end the dangerous steps that our commonwealth is taking towards the privatization of education. Mr. Saccone, you will not have my vote if you support Senate Bill 1 or Governor Corbett’s budget that slashes funding for public education. = = = = Sincerely, = = (your name) =

=Dear Representative Saccone, = =Here are some ideas for generating revenue that can be put into education: = =*close the Delaware loop hole = =*tax Marcellus Shale = =*Eliminate the Governor’s Liberty Fund = =*tax soda = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Or, consider how you are currently funding programs and move money around. For example: = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*shift money from prisoners to students = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*shift money from welfare to students = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*shift money from privatized education to public education = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*shift money from the state’s surplus to education = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you fail to support our children, I will not support you in the next election. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear Representative Saccone, = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please find a way to restore funding to education. Our students do not deserve to pay for the mistakes made by adults. Our state cannot afford the ramifications of an under-educated populace. Our nation will be unable to compete with other countries and we will no longer be a super power. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These statements do not stretch the truth and are not overly dramatic. They are statements of fact and I urge you to do what is right for Pennsylvania by refusing to support Governor Corbett’s proposed budget. Do not cut education and do not dismiss the requests of your constituents. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You will lose my vote if you support cuts to education. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear Representative Saccone, = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At a recent town hall meeting, an administrator from Penn State University Greater Allegheny said that Pennsylvania can either educate students from kindergarten through Penn State or from kindergarten through State Pen. Truer words have never been spoken! = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am writing this letter to ask you to support your constituents who believe that education is the number one priority for Pennsylvanians. Return funding to our public schools, give local school districts the opportunity to restore both staff and programs to the schools, and fund higher education. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Education is the key to a society that functions-not prisons, not welfare, and not big business. Restore funding to education and vote against Governor Corbett’s proposed budget or you will lose my vote in the next election. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear Representative Saccone, = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The papers are filled almost daily with editorials about Governor Corbett’s proposed budget. I would simply like you to know that I believe that the needs of our children must come first. Education may need to be reformed, but do not reform it on the backs of our children. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Find better ways to train the teachers who care about our children. Provide tutoring for lower income and at risk students. Continue all-day kindergarten so that our kids have every opportunity to learn early and compete in the global economy. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Put Pennsylvania’s money into our children instead of our convicts. If you do so, you will have my vote. If you support Governor Corbett’s budget you will lose my vote in the next election. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear Mr. Saccone, = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am extremely concerned about the cuts to educational funding across the state and in our area. Every one of the districts you represent are cutting teachers because Governor Corbett has drastically reduced funding across the state. 24 teachers are being cut from Elizabeth Forward and all local schools are reducing teaching staff, curtailing programs, and considering the elimination of all-day kindergarten. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This simply does not work for Pennsylvanians and will not make our future generation well-prepared to lead our nation. I urge you to reconsider your position and fully return funds to the schools, where they are desperately needed. Whether you utilize the surplus money, take away funds from welfare and prisons, tax Marcellus Shale or cut the Delaware loophole, please put the needs of our children first and restore funding to education-fully! I am aware of the graph that Governor Corbett is showing his constituents, stating that he is returning educational funding to pre-stimulus levels, and I am also aware that many people say that school districts misappropriated the stimulus money. Mr. Saccone, you and I both know those statements are egregious lies. Lower income school districts will suffer because of EAP monies, block grants, and charter school reimbursements. You must oppose the governor in this before it is too late for our children. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You will not have my vote in the next election if you support Governor Corbett. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear Representative Saccone, = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Your job is to represent your constituents, to speak up for the needs and wants of your people. How can you say that you are representing our area, that you are representing our needs, and that you are representing our children if you support Governor Corbett’s proposed budget? = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Quit representing big business, quit representing the people who pay nothing to drill for shale, and quit representing those who reap the benefits of the Delaware loophole. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you do not start representing your people instead of big businesses, the people of your area-led by me and hundreds like me-will find a new representative. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dear Mr. Saccone, = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You must find a way to combat Governor Corbett’s proposed budget and restore funding to education. The future of our children depends on it! = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pennsylvania’s children have made great strides in education. The state has seen improvement in standardized test scores every year since 2002. Over 95% of our school districts are making AYP. Pennsylvania’s students excel in the international community with their math abilities. Education is working in Pennsylvania and we must continue to fund it if we want to see our children become tomorrow’s leaders. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our students deserve better teachers, not fewer teachers. They deserve programs if they are from lower income families or neighborhoods. They deserve electives, options, and opportunities, not cuts to what they love and value the most. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Support our children and support our future by standing against Governor Corbett. If you fail to do so, you will not have my vote in the next election. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, =

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