Raise the Volume in Olympia

"Nothing big happens in Olympia unless the external voices become so loud that the legislators can't ignore it." 

                         State Superintendent Randy Dorn speaking to Washington State PTA Focus day.

Have you e-mailed/called your reps?  

  • Let them know McCleary IS the thing and your disappointment that it does not appear that way to the legislature. 
  • Let them know that you believe the needs of over 1M children who have been waiting for years for fully funded public education are just as important as 1,000 charter school students, call them.  No on HB 6194.  (To note, there appear to be a couple of charter school bills that were not there before with some of the same sponsors.  I'll have to read them and see what the differences are.) 
  • Let them know you will support the Supreme Court in any action the Court may take in support of McCleary.
  • Let them know you are a registered voter.  
In other news, hey, look at what Rep. Chad Magendanz, a charter cheerleader, has now put forth - HB 2902.

Therefore, the legislature intends to authorize a permanent tax credit for businesses that donate money to a charter school fund to ensure the citizens of Washington have the charter school option they voted for in 2012. 
Because you see that just going after the funds in the Opportunity Fund (in his HB 6194) apparently will NOT be enough in the long run.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Magendanz wants a dedicated tax credit to source funds for charter schools but offers no such thing for the more than 1 million kids in public schools? That is farcical. Call legislators. Tell them special efforts on behalf of a handful of state students are dead until they fix public school funding.

NoCharters
Done and done and feels like lands on deaf ears. Can't give up.

Where is the list of the 19 locations losing after school care? Anyone heard from their school yet?
alex said…
Will do re. legislators.

@Math in unfocused: I heard from Sue Peters (first non-robo response I have gotten from anyone at the board to the MANY, MANY emails I have sent) that Flip Herndon said that the list will be posted today on the SPS website. I will be checking.
Thanks Alex. Although I won't hold my breath just yet
mollyspringer said…
6194 is a Senate bill. Pettigrew's companion bill is HB 2367, I believe. 6194 passed the Senate but the House Ed committee has not scheduled a hearing. And Magendanz's bill for tax credits is right out of ALEC. It is most likely for election posturing as he is challenging Sen. Mullet, also a charter supporter, for the senate seat. Bills have to be out of the committee in their house of origin by Friday, except budget bills have another week.
From Summer Stinson down in Olympia:

"Representative Chad Magendanz cited the fact that 1,200 PTA members and kids came down for PTA focus day in 2009 for bill 2261. There are about 200 people here today. He challenged parents/kids to show up in Olympia. On this point, I agree with him. We want the 1.1 million public school kids to matter? We need to show up, email, call, and speak up."

Here's my reply:

"Wow, just wow. Take kids out of school to say parents want full funding? Maybe parents are tired of begging."

Then Magendanz said (this to a group of PTA parents who ARE down there:)

"He just claimed that PTA has lost its power and its membership because PTA has become too Seattle focused and too supportive of tax increases."

I have NO idea what he bases this on. I don't think WSPTA is Seattle-focused at all. I'm not even sure they are Washington-focused.

There is a lot of cruel, soulless thinking down in Olympia.



Catherine said…
So Magendanz and his buddies want parents to take time off work, pull their students out of class, drive cars to Olympia, so that they can fawn over him to beg him to DO HIS JOB as defined by our state constitution?!
Anonymous said…
What a load of crap.

How about having some internet site where we commit ANOTHER hour of time, for every idiotic proposal, to a primary challenger. Instead of wasting time begging these sell outs to do their jobs, put your time into getting rid of them.

They've got more excuses for listening to some liars-du-jour than there are apples in Wenatchee. Get rid of them - Who

IsNext?

Anonymous said…
Like a dollar off your taxes for a dollar donation?

Like what, pick the state entity you want your taxes to go to? Ya, that'll work.

That should be unconstitutional at face value.

-NNNCr
Magendanz is the kind of Republican that many in Washington State are unfamiliar with, but that I recognize quite well from across the country: he's an extremist, knows how to manipulate the system, and once he gets power he will use it to crush any efforts to resist his agenda.

He's also skillful at playing a game of divide-and-conquer. His comments about PTA are designed to sow dissension and undermine unity. He wants people to believe that tax increases are a "Seattle agenda" that the rest of the state doesn't share. That is absolutely false. But by saying it, he makes Seattle parents self-conscious and hesitant to push their agenda, and he makes parents outside Seattle wonder about what they signed up to - even though those parents agree on the education funding crisis.

Magendanz is a skilled politician but he is no friend of public education. He wants to bring the policies of Scott Walker and Rick Snyder to Washington State: defund and privatize public schools, demoralize and push out experienced teachers, replace education with test prep, and so on. He's not alone in this, by the way.
The other thing to keep in mind here is that today's Republicans cannot be lobbied. They don't change their minds due to public pressure. What matters is winning elections, whether for public office or for ballot initiatives. That is the only kind of public pressure they respond to.
Anonymous said…
I completely disagree that they can't be lobbied.

Politics 101 (kind of) - ALL humans are open to negotiation when you take away or wreck stuff they treasure. However, since the dilettante diaper wetters of the Wishy-Warshy Democratic Party will NOT learn how to play hardball, and will not play hardball, what does any Magendanz / Rodney / Hill have to FEAR?

As long as Seattle-ites from the better 'hoods keep electing their cerebral theoreticians educated in the concepts of action, instead of people with some guts and some street sense and some determination to NOT lose to liars, well ... Rodney Magendanz Hill

WillRule
I totally agree with Robert on Magendanz. He comes to the Washington Paramount Duty Facebook page and engages but with a tin ear. It's useless to talk to him. When challenged, he whines about being picked on and how hard he works.

As well, it was a post I created on a bill he wrote and yet, even when I asked him about it- four times - he remained silent. There's someone with the courage of his convictions.

I'm in the middle on lobbying Republicans. You have to have something they want, otherwise, they will not listen.
Kathleen S. said…
"Representative Chad Magendanz cited the fact that 1,200 PTA members and kids came down for PTA focus day in 2009 for bill 2261. There are about 200 people here today. He challenged parents/kids to show up in Olympia. On this point, I agree with him. We want the 1.1 million public school kids to matter? We need to show up, email, call, and speak up."

State Representative Chad Magendanz knows full well that the state is under a court order to fund education. Parents are busy, students are in school and I highly doubt begging for funding, in Olympia, will result in funding this year. As well, resolutions, high-lighting budget gaps etc. is meaningless. The only thing that will bring about change is getting certain individuals into and out of office.

I note: In one breath Chad Magendanz claims that he won't sponsor/support potentially unconstitutional bills. Yet, he sponsored a bill to fund UNCONSTITUTIONL charter schools. As well, he supported SB6194 which is very likely unconstitutional. I asked him about this and he didn't answer my question. He can't have it both ways.
Yes, Kathy, and when these charter supporters say they care about kids and yet continue to sponsor unconstitutional bills, you have to wonder.

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