TEACH+takes+message+to+lawmakers

= = = = = = =By Stacy Lee= =//Published in the McKeesport Daily News//= =//6/24/11//= = = = = ="You say cutback, we say fight back."= =That was one of many phrases Tell Everyone All Cuts Hurt protesters chanted Thursday morning outside the offices of Republican state Reps. George Dunbar, R-Penn Township, and Rick Saccone, R-Elizabeth Township.= =The peaceful protest was to raise awareness of how much the proposed state budget education cuts will affect the community, according to TEACH.= =Teachers, administrators, parents, students and community members from East Allegheny, Jeannette, South Allegheny, Steel Valley, West Mifflin Area and Woodland Hills school districts were included in the group.= ="We are trying to heighten the awareness of people in the area as to how these cuts will affect them, their children, their taxes and their communities," TEACH chairwoman Jill Fleming-Salopek said, "as well as letting the senators and legislators know that we are not going away. They have a responsibility to their constituents and to the children in the state of Pennsylvania. We expect them to vote that way."= =TEACH organizer Steve Singer said the group visited the offices of Dunbar and Saccone because the legislators were "showing a callous indifference to their constituents."= ="They both represent schools that are receiving disproportionately large cuts," Singer said. "They voted to make these cuts. It seems to us that when you vote for a representative, they should have your back. They should be there to represent your interests."= =The protesters began Thursday at Dunbar`s North Huntingdon Township office. Dunbar wasn`t there, but one of his staffers was. He did call The Daily News after a message was left for him.= ="I certainly support Mr. Singer and his group`s right to free speech," Dunbar said. "I met with Mr. Singer and several members of the group. I don`t understand the need for a protest when my door is open and I`m willing to sit down with them."= =He said he has heard the TEACH group`s message and passed it on in Harrisburg.= =Dunbar said he voted for a bill that would restore basic education funding by more than $250 million from state Gov. Tom Corbett`s original proposed budget.= ="We set the bar at the highest level for basic education for state dollars," he said.= =Dunbar said former state Gov. Ed Rendell cut basic education funds for state dollars, but federal stimulus dollars made numbers larger. The stimulus money now has run out.= ="We`re going to deliver an on-time, no-tax-increase budget," he said.= =Dunbar also said all school districts receive the same percentage in cuts, but some receive more state money than others.= =State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield Township, has a shared office with Dunbar.= =Singer said Ward was the most receptive to TEACH`s message out of all of the Republican legislators with whom the group has met.= ="She hasn`t voted on anything yet," he said. "Her vote will count more than any word she has said."= =Ward`s office staff declined comment on the protest.= =The TEACH group then headed to Saccone`s Jefferson Hills office. The state representative was not there, but his staff was.= ="Rep. Saccone is supportive of people wanting to get involved in the process," said Dan Soltesz, Saccone`s district office manager.= ="He`s happy they`re coming out. He`s met with several people from this group — both here and in Harrisburg."= =He said "state basic education funding is the highest it has ever been."= ="We`re supportive of education," Soltesz said. "Gov. Rendell lowered the amount the state put in (education funding) and he inflated that with stimulus funds. We`ve told the schools — as many other legislators did before Rep. Saccone took office —that we won`t be able to match stimulus funds when it disappears."= =Singer said the state has the same amount of money spent this year as two years ago before the stimulus money, but the allocations are different.= ="It`s very important to note even if these funding cuts were necessary, you don`t have to cut them the way you`re cutting," he said.= =Elizabeth-Forward ninth-grader Tyler Wachs and his brother, sixth-grader Dylen Wachs, were at Wednesday`s protest with their mother Jennifer Wachs, a South Allegheny fifth-grade teacher.= ="It`s going to affect a lot of things like foreign languages in my middle school," Tyler said. "Even though I`m not going to be in middle school next year, a lot of my friends were wanting to take foreign languages."= ="My mom might lose her job," Dylen said.= ="It`s not really about me losing my job," Wachs said. "It`s more about not only my children, but the students who I teach. It will affect every student regardless of where they live. It`s going to have a high impact on classroom sizes."= =TEACH joined other teachers` groups to protest on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg June 14 and spoke with state legislators while they were there.= =The group also traveled to the offices of Republican state legislators Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., Sen. John Pippy, Rep. Mark Mustio, Sen. Jane Orie and Rep. Eli Evankovich June 9 to spread its message.= = Read more: [|TEACH takes message to lawmakers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = = = =News= =home=