OK Representative Sherrie Conley Explains The Legislative Process In Under 2 Minutes!

Watch Oklahoma Representative Sherrie Conley explain the entire legislative process in under 2 minutes. If you've ever wondered what goes on under the dome on Lincoln, THIS is for you!

House and Senate Education Bills Scheduled for Monday, February 16th

These are the Senate and House Education bills being heard in Committee February 16th. 

Don't forget, you can look up all bills by typing in the bill number in this form and looking under the tab that says "versions". Always read the very last bill on the list as that is the most current.

Oklahoma Senate Education Committee Meeting February 16, 2015

SB 5 Sharp – protects school employees and volunteers in the event of having to use reasonable restraint on a student in a public school setting (Sad it's necessary, but YES)

SB 20 Sharp- (Comm Sub) providing for out of state highly qualified teachers to have reciprocity for their teachers license (If we're in a teacher shortage and we're using teachers without degrees - TFA - and important Turkish teachers - Dove Academy - we can certainly allow degreed teachers from other states to come here and teach. YES)

SB 137 Brooks - Disability compensation shall not be included in determining financial need for OHLAP. (We're already paying kids to go to Universities now. Under this law, even more people will now qualify for OHLAP. This is spreading the wealth and destroying work ethic. Simply because you are poor does not mean you're unable to get into a college or university. There are scholarships for many of these situations. It may take hard work, but it's the same hard work for those not considered impoverished. Dr. Ben Carson is an excellent example of someone in poverty attending university - and beyond. NO)

SB 162 Halligan - Rules for exemptions from mandated test for the most severe cognitive 
disabilities. (It's a 'proposed' Committee Sub, but as written we have no objections. YES)

SB 404 Ford – Setting up a new program for career tech (Setting up ANOTHER program with FEDERAL FUNDS? For Career Tech - which is doing very well on its own thank you very much? ABSOLUTELY NOT)

SB 414 Brinkley – Amending eligible schools to the Oklahoma Tuition Equalization Grant (Again, don't like taxpayers funding higher education for others, but if we're going to do it, let's at least be 'fair' about it. How about repealing OTEG next year? It would help balance the budget. YES)

SB 609 Jolley - ESA bill – (We support Rep Nelson’s ESA bill (HB2003) with a few modifications. Why is this bill almost 3 times as long? If both bills pass we will watch the conference process carefully. We support Education Savings Accounts so long as homeschoolers are kept from state mandates of any kind in order to take advantage of the program. NO on the senate version.)

SB 630 Ford – Amending RSA (which has sunset). An intensive remediation plan will be established for 1st and 2nd graders who did poorly on reading tests by a Student Reading Proficiency Team who will develop reading proficiency plan. (Why is the state getting involved again in reading? This is another mandate. Local schools/districts need to determine what is best for their students without the legislature creating another law to handcuff teachers and that may work for some but not for everyone. NO)

SB 674 Halligan – Tobacco free schools and school property (Another mandate. This is a local/district issue. NO)

SB 708 Ford - Beginning with next school year, removes state-madated testing in grades 3-8, 7th grade Geography test, 8th grade Social Studies, Government & Writing Tests. (Need to stop high stakes testing. One caveat - students MUST LEARN history and government. They should be tested in this area without stakes. YES)

SB 709 Ford – A huge Teacher recruitment scheme – there will not be any money for this within this years' budget, so it shouldn't be passed. NO 

SB 711 Sparks – Letting OSDE know when and why a teacher was let go Oklahoma House (Major lack of communication here on re-hiring fired teachers. YES) 

Common Education Committee Meeting 2/16/15

HB 1823 Martin – Putting a hold on A-f School grades for one year – to study (We think they should hold it forever. YES)

HB 1685 Denney – Tobacco free schools and school property (see Halligan's bill above - NO)

HB 1027 Cannaday - Delaying the quantitative portion of TLE (We must get something slowed or eliminated for TLE. The stakes are too high, too much data is being collected on kids – it is a disaster. A bill needs to pass to work with! YES)

HB 1065 Nollan - Administer a valid and reliable criterion-referenced test that measures only reading proficiency and not proficiency in the language arts. (Last year's fight over the RSA brought to light the fact that 4th graders were not being tested simply on their reading/comprehension skills but language arts processes as well. Reading is reading, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. should not be part of the exam. YES)

HB 1272 Casey – Personal discussion indicates he is laying this bill over.

HB 2003 Nelson – ESA bill – we support this bill with some modifications and want to see the discussion begin on ESAs. Every parent needs to be able to choose the school and plan of education best for each of their children. YES)

HB 1380 Fisher – Replacing AP US History with a course teaching specified concepts creating a corresponding exam. Requiring US History courses taught in Oklahoma schools to include several specific concepts/points. (ROPE began by supporting a very similar bill because many aspects of US History are being twisted and/or omitted in public schools today. American history textbooks today often fully omit the American Revolution and the founding documents. Most students today have very little knowledge of either. YES)

HB 2014 J Coody – Allows handguns to be carried by school personnel who have successfully completed special reserve school resource officer academy. (Gun free zones are only safe as long as there are no persons with guns looking to harm students/faculty. Students/faculty should not be targets. YES)

HB 1333 Lockhart – Adding an international ranking to the A-F school grade. (The current school grading system is of uncertain facility currently. Why add anything until Oklahomans know the A-F system is accurate and informative. NO)

HB 1691 Denney – Large school districts may contract privately for educational services including the delivery of instructional service in core and noncore academic subjects (We would like to see an amendment on this bill to protect student data requiring that companies not share data gathered and that any gathered data must be destroyed upon contract end. YES with amendment)

HB 2130 Cleveland – Bill has no language in it, but it claims to be a repealer. We're ALL for repealing laws, but until we see the language, NO.

Understanding the Legislative Process - Simple Steps To Use During the Legislative Session

I am writing this blog today because I understand people believe Oklahoma has passed a Common Core bill.

When I first became involved in the legislative process, I knew NOTHING about how a bill was signed into law other than what I had heard on School House Rock in middle school!  Unfortunately, I assume everyone on the ROPE list knows at least what I know now. I am sorry for that!  Please let me go back to my role as teacher, and provide some information I hope will be helpful to those of you just starting out on the journey of informed and attentive citizen!

I'm Just a Bill (Schoolhouse Rock!)

Of course, this video outlines the process of a bill at the federal level, but it's the same basic process at the state level.  Below is a very abbreviated version of how this process works at the state level, but I am hoping it will give you an understanding of how LONG this process takes.

Representative Gus Blackwell's Common Core bill (HB3167) did pass out of the Administrative Rules Committee Wednesday (2/12), but that is only the second step in a nearly 8 step process, with lots of Amendment and Conference steps in there we won't discuss right now.  If you would like to learn more, please visit "How An Idea Becomes A Law" on the Oklahoma Legislative Website.  In addition, here is the link to the overall legislative calendar that provides all the deadlines in the process so you'll have an idea what will happen when.

In order to give you just a very abbreviated look at the process, I have come up with the steps below and the points at which we'll have to have contact with our legislators.  This way, when we send out an alert asking you to call, you'll know where the bill is in the process. Please note that the process is the same for BOTH House and Senate.  (PS: Now that the House has a new Speaker, the Speaker may decide to change Committee assignments, so you'll have to use the link for 'Committees' to determine if there have been changes - if we don't specify)

Step 1. A bill is written

Step 2. The bill is assigned to a Committee.  There are a NUMBER of Committees.   Here are the House Committees, here are the Senate Committees.

Step 3.  The Committee Chair decides to hear - or not hear - the bill, depending upon the Chairman.  This is why it's important to pressure the Senate to hear Common Core bills in Committees.

Step 4. If the bill isn't heard, it's dead for the session (year) 

4a.  If the bill IS heard and it doesn't pass, it's dead for the session 

Step 5. If the bill DOES pass committee, it may or may NOT be put on a calendar to go to the floor where all legislators vote.  This applies to BOTH House and Senate.

5a. In the House, the Calendar Committee decides if a bill reaches the floor

5b. In the Senate, Floor Leader Senator Mike Schultz decides not only to which Committee a bill is assigned, but whether or not it reaches the floor for a vote.

Step 6. If the bill gets to the floor, it is voted on by that chamber (House or Senate). If it passes, it goes to the opposite chamber when bills switch chambers on March 13.

Step 7. March 13th, House Bills go to Senate, Senate Bills go to the House and the whole process STARTS all over again from step1.

Step 8. Once a bill has passed BOTH the House AND the Senate, it goes to the Governor for her signature - the final step before a bill becomes a law.

So you can see, this is a LONG PROCESS and we have to eat this elephant ONE VOTE at a time by making calls every step of the way! If the bill comes from the House, we'd make calls;

1. To House Committee Chair to hear bill
2. To Committee Members to vote it out of committee
3. To Calendar Committee to have bill sent to the House floor
4. To have Representatives vote our way when the bill comes to the floor.
5. To Senate Floor Leader to assign the bill to a Committee
6. To Senate Committee Chair to hear the bill
7. To Senate Committee members to vote it out of committee
8. To Senate Floor Leader to assign the bill to the Senate floor
9. To have Senators vote our way when the bill comes to the floor
10. To have Governor Fallin sign the bill (should it make it through both houses)

Hopefully, I haven't missed anything!

I know there are many more things you'd like to do in a day than follow this whole process (I know I would and my kids think EXACTLY the same thing FOR me!), but this is a process that only goes from February to May.  The rest of the year is ours!  Please learn this process - it's an integral part of good citizenship anyway and, as usual, we could really use your help!

Thank you for all you do for our country and our kids,

Jenni White
President 

ONE MORE THING:  Today, Lynn had an opportunity to speak with Governor Fallin at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon.  When she told her she did not want Common Core in Oklahoma, the Governor replied that she didn't want them either WHICH IS WHY THE STATE HAS OUR OWN OKLAHOMA ACADEMIC STANDARDS.  

Apparently, those who work for our Governor have our Governor fooled into believing the Oklahoma State Department of Education has adopted Oklahoma standards.  This could be further from the truth.  I have been able to document that Oklahoma's Math and English Standards are Common Core.  I have also been able to document that Oklahoma's Science Standards ARE the National Science Standards.  I have even been able to document that Oklahoma History Standards follow the C3 (National History Standards) almost to a fault.  Please familiarize yourselves with these FACTS.  Look up the links in our research yourself to make sure I am being accurate.  Then, tell the Governor herself, 

OKLAHOMA DOES HAVE 

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

and 

COMMON CORE IS NOT OK!

Some Oklahoma Schools Will Close in March to Attend Capitol Rally for More Money

March 31, 2014, teachers, administrators and community members will be marching on the Capitol to demand more funding for public education.  

In all fairness, I have heard many excellent educators, such as Rob Miller in Jenks, talk about the fact that funding isn't the only issue upon which they should base this march, however, I've also read comments from many others in our state who believe the solution to our current education nightmare is money.  

Recently, two Oklahoma legislators got wind of the rally.  Representative Jason Murphy (R), and Mike Turner (R) were quoted in the Daily Disappointment (sorry, Daily Oklahoman) providing their viewpoints on this civic exercise.

Murphy said, 

“It's indefensible for government entities to use government resources to lobby government for more taxpayer money for more government,”

Turner said, 

“This sort of behavior should not be tolerated by our schools or any other state agency participating in this gross abuse of your hard-earned money,” 

These comments ignited a firestorm in the Oklahoma education blogosphere (What Does The Angry Mob Say, In Support Of The Teacher's Rally, An Appalling Lack Of Respect, Marching For Kids, Marching For My Family) as many bloggers sounded off on what they feel is a put down by these Oklahoma legislators.

I like both Jason and Mike, and I agree with them that taking a day off of school to protest at the Capitol is not the way to deal with the question of education funding.  However, I am of a very divided mind here.  I don't agree that schools should abandon their jobs to go lobby for more money, because I don't agree with that issue.  However, I desperately agree that citizens (educators) need to be in the Capitol lobbying their legislature - after all, there are PLENTY of lobbyists that don't represent citizen (education) interests wondering around the Capitol on a daily basis.  If these are the only people from whom lawmakers hear, then they're the only people whose squeaky wheel gets greased!  I also believe that, for years now, a majority of our lawmakers have been listening to the likes of Jeb Bush, the National Governor's Association, the Chamber of Commerce and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, over the protests of money-and-clout-poor parents and educators, especially when it comes to the contentious issue of education 'reforms' in Oklahoma.

ROPE has been lobbying the legislature since 2011 to repeal Common Core.  It has taken us until the end of last year to get any real traction on this issue.  Why?  Because the POWERS THAT BE (described above) want it and they have the money to affect public policy/opinion in whatever way they desire.  Heck, they have the marketing power of Exxon-Mobile and the Bill and Melinda Gates-backed Stand For Children behind them.  I have some really madder-than-heck-and-not-going-to-take-it-anymore parents, teachers, administrators and taxpayers in my corner.  Needless to say, none of us in this latter group are going to come up with the multimillions of dollars it will take to overmessage the formerly named group, so there has to be another way to effect change in our favor.

For almost a year now, when I speak to a group, I have been informing listeners that their rights are being usurped by a growing government bureaucracy full of individuals that believe they know what's better for children than their parents and/or teachers.  In fact, I believe this so heartily and disagree with this sentiment so thoroughly, that I removed my children from public school to educate them at home.  Consequently, when I'm speaking and parents ask,

What can we do?  My school board can't do anything, my principal can't do anything, my legislator won't help me, I don't know what to do...what can I do?

I have begun to answer,

Become civilly disobedient.  Simply say, "No thank you, I do not wish my child to participate in field testing achievement tests for privately-owned-for-profit testing companies." or "No thank you, I do not want my child taking a test that will not accurately tell her teachers what she knows", or "No thank you, I will not accept math standards for my child created outside the state by people who don't have a clue about how she learns in her classroom in Oklahoma and that can possibly damage her ability to learn math".

So, I do understand the need and desire to petition our government IN PERSON, for redress and I do think EVERYONE aught to do just that more often and sooner rather than later.

Truly, the only problem I have with this March rally is the idea that anyone should go pump the legislature to ply education with more money.

When Janet Barresi attempted to earn my vote four years ago, she told me she would conduct an audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Education in attempt to eliminate waste and funnel more money back into the classroom. 

Barresi said that one of her first orders of business will be to ensure that critical dollars are getting into the state’s classrooms. She said she will immediately direct a comprehensive division-by-division analysis of the Department of Education. And she’ll be working to contract with an independent auditor to conduct a financial and performance audit of the department.

So, Dr. Barresi, where is that audit?  The only audit I know of at the OSDE was one conducted by State Auditor Gary Jones which found Dr. Barresi 

“...utilized state personnel in a questionable and likely inappropriate manner,”

I also know that, unlike her promises to voters not to continually raise the education budget and be a sound steward of our education dollar, she requested a $158 MILLION dollar increase in budget for 2011-2012 (to bring Oklahoma's public education budget to $2.4 BILLION dollars) and a budget increase of a $175 MILLION dollar budget increase in 2013-2014 (to bring total public education funding in Oklahoma to 2.57 BILLION dollars). 

According to Data.ok.gov, Common Education,was again, in 2013 (I thought I had read health care had usurped the top spot but I guess not) sitting at the top as the LARGEST appropriation in all of the Oklahoma state budget at 37% (33.58% in 2014 - again the highest appropriation).

So, hopefully that begs the question, 

How much money is enough money for Oklahoma education?

Hopefully that also begs the question,

Where is the currently appropriated money going?  It's quite apparently NOT going into the classroom. 

At this point, I will say,

Glad you asked!

and give you the following answer:

Who knows!?  

Why would I say such a thing?  Well, simply go to the website created by Senate Bill1633 (The School District Transparency Act of 2010), called OpenBooksOk.com.  
SB1633 says this about the information that website should contain, in part:

The database shall provide information on school district expenditures of state, federal, and local funds, whether appropriated or nonappropriated, excluding payments of voluntary payroll deductions for employees to receiving parties.  

Now, see if you can find any information about Common Education on that website?  No?  Neither can I.  Interestingly, I remember that before Janet Barresi took office, I raided that website more than once for information on Common Education spending and found it there, very well described and in a manner even decipherable to me.  This is an article from 2009 in which I used many links available at that time through the OSDE and OpenBooksOK.com for my research.  Now, many of these links are invalid and/or now go to pages that have nothing to do with the references for which they were used!

This is the Financial Accounting page on the OSDE website.  Go there just for grins and giggles.  Start clicking on some links and tell me this is anything other than a system of links back to the same page upon which you clicked the original link.  How bizarre.  In fact, the one link I was able to identify as moving away from the finance page, takes you to OCAS (the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System) where I found the Common Education funding accounting.  This page is NOT the Open Books website as specified by law.

Once on the OCAS page, it's easy to see that 2012-2013 school year has yet to be entered.  From there, the tabs are easy enough to navigate - Homepage, Statewide Reports, District Reports - but here's the deal;

1. There are total expenditures on that page over 6 BILLION dollars.  Are you really saying that out of all 35 categories of expenditures there's not some way to drag at least a million or two, or three back into the classroom?  
2. There are no descriptors for the expenditures so who only knows for what that money is really being spent.  There is nothing there other than a near spreadsheet type report - no breakdowns, no graphs, no charts, no comparisons; nothing those paying for public education (taxpayers) can understand.
3. There is a Revenue link down the page, but that opens up into an Excel spread sheet that is entirely populated with information NO ONE in their right mind can understand or identify!  Though all funds are to be identified as per SB1633, it would take a PhD in finance to figure all that out.

I read SB1633.  There is no mechanism for redress, should its edicts be ignored.  In a discussion with Representative Jason Nelson, over this same issue on another bill, he told me that the law itself IS the mechanism for redress.  I remain confused.  So the OSDE has to follow the law because the law says they have to.  Okay, but they're not, so who's going to make them?  How are these laws enforced and by whom or what agency?  The legislature routinely writes laws without assigning enforcement measures.  What is the point of writing a law if no o is expected to follow it because no enforcement mechanism has been identified?

I also think it interesting here, that very early on in her tenure, Dr. Barresi fired Dr. Jack Herron, the Department's Assistant Superintendent for Financial Services, after the Board would not approve Jill Geiger as her director of finance with Jack already in a similar position.  Mere moments after Governor Fallin signed into law a bill to give the State Superintendent authority over the agency's personnel, Barresi dispatched Herron.  Geiger was later appointed as the state budget director at the Office of State Finance, leaving her without a Finance Director for some time.  Currently, this position is filled by Mathangi Shankar, listed in CPA Focus Magazine (2009) as an Associate Member of the Oklahoma Society of CPA's and the Finance Manager for the Oklahoma Insurance Department.  

Clearly, the water of accountability is murky at the OSDE in more ways than one, but to close this post, I'm going to list the ways in which I think Oklahomans can come together to provide actual relief to schools and taxpayers on the issue of public education funding:

1. DEMAND the legislature cease and desist shackling schools with unfunded public school mandates and DEMAND they rescind those currently in law.
2. Tell the legislature to DEMAND a full and complete audit of the OSDE, since Dr. Barresi will apparently not make good on her campaign promise to do so.
3. DEMAND the legislature stop writing laws which do not provide oversight or a mechanism for redress should the law not be followed!  

This short video drives home a point ROPE has made year after year - really good education doesn't come from a bank - it comes from educators willing to do what it takes to get students where they need to be regardless of the perceived price tag.

The Politics of Common Core Part 2

Recently I gave you a rundown on the way I see the basic politics at play for the upcoming legislative session here in Oklahoma.  Since that time one very important thing has happened - Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon has declared himself to be considering a run for Senator Tom Coburn's Senate seat.

This changes things a bit.  If Shannon declares himself as a candidate for the seat, he would most probably leave his post as Speaker to campaign.  If he leaves his post as Speaker, we're not certain who would carry his bill, nor can we be certain who the next speaker would be.  There are several we have heard of that have indicated their interest in the post (among others) and the new Speaker's relationship with the governor may put he or she at odds with the grassroots desire to stop Common Core.

Currently, there are SEVEN bills relating directly to the Common Core - 5 in the House and 2 in the Senate.  

Two are simple repeal bills that delete the ONE PARAGRAPH in the 32 page SB2033 that made Common Core law in Oklahoma.  These are:

HB 2786 - authored by Representative Jadine Nollan 

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20int/HB/HB2786%20int.pdf

HB2849 - authored by Representative Dan Fisher

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20int/HB/HB2849%20int.pdf

There is no reason to think we cannot pass these bills with sufficient enough citizen pressure. Though our main opposition appears to come from two term limited senators - one, Clark Jolley has higher political aspirations and the second, John Ford, has to return to his small community of Bartlesville where a Common Core forum will occur tomorrow night (1/28/13) that has gotten media attention from the Tulsa World and the Pat Campbell show.  For the rest of the non-term-limited senators, we must remind them that this is an election year for some.  If we can't prompt them nicely to do as we ask, then they needn't be re-elected.  In fact, it is our plan to push FULL FORCE FOR REPEAL.  

We have heard these bills may have trouble in Committee because they provide no 'back-up' plan for standards outside the Common Core - they repeal the standards, but put nothing in their place.  In fact, we have long provided TWO OPTIONS:

1.  Return to PASS until new standards - developed by actual Oklahomans - can be created.  Don't forget, the stink that helped cause all this education 'reform' nonsense in the first place was created when it was learned that state superintendents across the nation, including Sandy Garrett, had lowered the cut scores on the yearly state tests (an 'A' would have been 85 and up, rather than 90 and up, for example) in order to make it easier for kids to do well on their exams in order to satisfy the requirements of No Child Left Behind.  So was NCLB repealed?  Oh no instead the feds simply began to apply a whole new set of mandates for states through Race to the Top and NCLB waivers to make up for the bad law!  What is it that's said about insanity?

2.  Dr. Sandra Stotsky, known for her participation in writing the 2001 Massachusetts' educational standards that made MA's standards some of the very best in the entire country (as determined via standardized testing), has released her standards FOR FREE on line.  She has made it possible for EVERY STATE who would like to use them to use them without copyright or strings of any kind.  Why not start with the best?  Oklahoma educators can certainly add or subtract as desired, but these are FREE AND EXCELLENT as opposed to poor and untested!

Senator Eddie Fields has authored TWO bills.  One is a repeal bill that also includes direction to the State Board of Education to remove all alignment in the standards to the Common Core, stop Common Core assessments and require the state board to revise their agreement with the feds that will allow Oklahoma to get out from under the standards.

SB 1146 -  authored by Senator Eddie Fields

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20int/SB/SB1146%20int.pdf

Fields' other bill would establish a task force the purpose of which would be to "review curricular standards approved by the State Board of Education and make recommendations to the Legislature regarding new curricular standards."

SB 1310 - Establishing Curricular Standards Task Force

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20int/SB/SB1310%20int.pdf

Speaker of the House Shannon's bill prevents the Department of Education from entering into any agreements with the Federal government that would align Oklahoma standards to the Common Core - directs the OSDE to amend any agreements with the feds so that Oklahoma may be released from using the Common Core standards.  Shannon's bill reads similarly to Fields'.

HB3331 - authored by T.W. Shannon

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20int/HB/HB3331%20int.pdf

Representative Gus Blackwell also has a bill that repeals the standards and then puts in place the "Local Curriculum Standards Pilot Program" in which ANY school district could adopt their own standards (even if they do not align with state standards) for five years.  After that time, there will be a comparison made among schools using the state standards and those using their own local standards using standardized, criterion-referenced tests.  This is a truly LOCAL CONTROL of education bill.

HB 3167 - authored by Representative Gus Blackwell

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20int/HB/HB3167%20int.pdf

Representative Jason Nelson also has a bill.  This bill starts by preventing federal control over state standards.  It requires any agency using federal money or programming - including those collecting data on students - to amend existing agreements to extricate themselves from any agreements that would cede control over K-12 education from outside the state. This bill would not repeal the Common Core, but instead, puts the standards on 'pause' for a full year during which the state assessments will reflect PASS and not CC.  It directs the state board to examine the English/LA and math standards, and then compare them with PASS in 9 different areas.  A written review of the comparison must be submitted to the House, Senate and Governor for their own review.

HB 3399 - authored by Representative Jason Nelson

http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20INT/hB/HB3399%20INT.PDF

Though, again, we will push for repeal, this is an excellent bill if a repeal is made completely unfeasible by Senator John Ford not hearing repeal bills in his committee and these bills not finding another avenue for hearing.

Now that you have bill numbers, IMMEDIATELY begin calling, emailing and visiting your Representatives and Senators.  Tell them you expect them to vote FOR any and all of these bills (overlapping bills are sorted out by the legislative legal staff after session ends and they know which ones the Governor will sign) and that you will be watching for their vote.

If you are still unaware of who those people are, please go here.  This is the link to the opening page of the Legislature.  On the bottom of that page is something that says, "Find My Legislator".  USE THAT!  Type in your address information and you will be rewarded for your time with a list including the names of your local Representative and Senator.  Once you have that - USE IT!  If you can't figure out how to navigate the website for our state legislature, watch this tutorial I made before Christmas.

As we begin session in February, begin to watch for emails from us (if you haven't signed up for email alerts from us, you can do so on the front page of our website in the top right hand corner) giving you an update on where the bills are in the process and asking you to make targeted legislative contacts.

As Lynn points out, there are NUMEROUS bills and shell bills regarding TESTING and school code - as well as a couple of bills regarding student privacy and data collection - one on which we are assisting Representative David Brumbaugh.  

It is going to be extraordinarily hard to keep on top of ALL that is going on at the Capitol this year, but we MUST.  In our opinion, the federal government is completely out of control.  We have the most control over our government from our own back yard.  We MUST do what we can right outside our backdoor!  We must make our state government work for us!