KISS YOUR BRAIN New York!

YAY! New York finally got it right! New York managed to win almost $700 million for schools this Tuesday when it was selected as one of the ten winners of the federal Race to the Top competition. This was a major victory for New York State schools and more importantly New York State school-children who stand to benefit the most from the winnings. New York lost out in the first round of Race to the Top primarily because of the cap on charter schools in the city.

Despite the push back from the state and city's teachers unions who were initially opposed to many of the proposed changes, most notably, increasing the number of charter schools and standards for evaluating teacher performance, success was finally realized. Among other things, this money will allow New York state to create an immense tracking system to monitor how students perform from kindergarten through college and standardized tests are also slated for revision.

Though New York City will receive only approximately $380 million of the federal prize winnings, officials acknowledged its significance. The additional funding will allow the city to make changes to its curriculum and state standards which will enable great things to happen as a result of those changes. The bigger picture suggests that the teachers unions may be softening their position or at the very least realize that change is on the horizon and charter schools are here to stay.

Kudos to New York State on a job well done! KISS YOUR BRAIN!

Next Steps

So the screening of The Lottery was a success and many of you may be wondering what you can do to help all children get a free, excellent education.  The answer is contact your representatives!  Let's all go Beyond Z today and let our voices be heard!

Leave a voicemail for these four Harlem elected officials to let them know you support parent choice and want the charter cap lifted.  Adam Clayton Powell supports charters, so please make sure to let him know you appreciate his position!  The others do not support parent choice.
Note: you will not reach a live person when you make these calls. Your call will go straight to a voicemail box that will send your messages to the elected officials.

• Adriano Espaillat: (718) 874-1470
• Denny Farrell: (718) 928-9587
• Bill Perkins: (718) 989-2705
• Adam Clayton Powell: (718) 989-2706

Suggested voicemail messages are as follows:

• Assemblymembers Adriano Espaillat and Herman Denny Farrell should hear:  "Hello this is (your name) calling to leave a message for Assemblymember Espaillat (or Farrell. I am calling to urge you to support our public charter schools. Please help us raise the cap on charter schools in New York State by voting for A.10928 and vote against the funding freeze for charter schools in this year's budget. Both of these votes will help our kids and put us in the best position to win $700 million in Race to the Top Funding."

• Senator Bill Perkins should hear:  "Hello this is (your name) calling to leave a message for Senator Perkins. I am calling to ask you to reconsider your position on public charter schools. Please help us raise the cap on charter schools in New York State and vote against the funding freeze for charter schools in this year's budget. Both of these votes will help our kids and put us in the best position to win $700 million in Race to the Top Funding."

• Assemblymember Adam Clayton Powell should hear:  "Thank you Assemblymember Powell for supporting parent choice.  This is (your name) calling to say I would like to thank you for your support of public charter schools. Please continue to support legislation raising the cap and ending the funding freeze. Thank you for supporting our kids and putting us in the best position to win $700 million in Race to the Top funding."

Remember these are OUR elected officials and they need to hear from US. Have a Way Beyond Z day!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Senate votes to lift the cap!

The state Senate voted 45-15, Monday, in favor of lifting the cap on the number of public charter schools statewide! There's just one more hurdle folks. The Assembly has to vote to pass the bill and then it's on Paterson's desk. No worries there... Paterson is a supporter! The bill, however, faces a dismal fate in the Assembly, where Speaker Sheldon Silver and the teacher's union oppose the measure.

The passing of this bill will boost New York's chances of winning federal Race to The Top funding. The Race to the Top Fund provides competitive grants to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform. Delaware and Tennessee won the first Race to the Top this March, winning $100 million and $500 million respectively over the next four years. Kudos to them!

New York was eliminated due to the requirement of state legislative action related to Charter schools (raising the cap) and opposition of Charter schools by teacher's unions. New York lost out on $700 million in education dollars, much needed in the midst of our current fiscal crisis. Hopefully we are now on the right track as Phase 2 applications are due on June 1, 2010.

A good education is the only guaranteed ticket to success! Keep the pressure on your local politicians. They need to hear from us! Education reform NOW or else your reelection is in peril!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry