Take Action Now! Your Well-Being Depends On It!

• The legislature is in session and dealing with a budget shortfall. We know that education cannot take any more cuts! You know it, I know it, but many of our legislators do not understand this. Some of them believe there is a lot of money wasted in our schools and they really don’t understand how hard everyone is working and how money is being spent. Sometimes they find an example of questionable spending and then assume that is typical.  Well, you and I know that’s not true. We know supplies are often being provided out of your own pocket. We know students who have only one set of crayons and scissors, and if they bring those to school, they don’t have them to use at home.  They have no books or paper at home and depend on the schools to supply the materials they need to succeed and do their work. Parent groups help, community groups help, employees help. There is not some secret stash of money that could be going to provide supplies for our kids and is not.

Take action NOW! Our schools have been hurt by the cuts to education funding and legislators need to hear this from you, the employees who work with our students every day! Tell them about your students, about the lack of materials, books, and other necessary supplies.

• Some legislators think school employees are well-off. They have not seen your take home pay or your share of medical costs. They don’t understand how this economic downturn has affected you and your family. They think you have it easy and work short hours and have lots of time for yourself. They don’t understand the demands of the job, how you are paid, how you demonstrate accountability.

Take action NOW! Let your legislators know that education cuts hurt you and your family as well as our students! Tell them your personal stories about the effects of these cuts and what more cuts will mean to you.  Tell them about the amount of time you spend outside the paid day planning lessons, grading papers, researching for resources to meet the needs of the student who needs some extra help. Tell them about you!

• Some legislators think we can just tighten our belts and they won’t have to make the hard choices to raise taxes to fund our schools. Tell them they are wrong!  Tell them taxes are meant to fund our schools and other public services, and taxes need to be fair, with corporations and the wealthy paying their fair share.  Remind them that the state has not raised the gross receipts tax rate since 1987!!!

Take action NOW! Call your legislators and let them know that you expect them to support the measures needed to pay for public schools and other public services. The public supports such tax increases and have said so in polls over the past year. The public prefers tax increases over cuts to public education!

Your NEA-NM lobby team is working for you every day. But we need your voice as well--legislators too often say they don’t hear from the folks who elected them, so take action NOW and let them hear from you! Go to www.nea-nm.org for the latest information and issues as the session continues.  You can find the name of your legislators, contact information and current issues through the links on our website.  We need you to stand up for yourself, your family and your students! Our well-being really does depend on it!

In unity,

Sharon