Terminating the Petitions
Got this email from Wendy Bokota. She's the head of our PTA Legislative Action committee.
I'm stoked by what she did. Read all about it.
Today I experienced democracy at its best and gave my kids the best civics lesson they could get. I took my kids to lunch at Red Robin in Costa Mesa in hopes we might catch a glimpse of the Governor. At the very best I thought we might be able to shake his hand. In fact, we not only got to shake hands with him but I engaged him in a one-on-one debate over the education budget.
I believe we were the last customers to get inside the restaurant, we ate our lunch and then about an hour later he appeared. I give him credit. He took the time to approach every table to shake hands and engage in discussion. I shook his hand and thanked him for the work he’s done and asked him to help me teach my kids how to keep a promise, I asked him to help me give my kids the best education possible. He proceeded to tell me he’s giving education $3 billion. I interrupted him to say in fact he was not giving $3 billion, that with the cost-shifting of teacher retirement, vehicle license fees, mental health costs, etc.. education was not receiving all that money. He went on to rhetorically ask me where I thought the money was going. He answered his own question by rattling on about collective bargaining unions. For fear my time would be up soon, I interrupted him again and told him regardless, it’s not enough, that we are not being funded appropriately, that our district is significantly under-funded, that the district is managing its money, and still my kids’ school might lose their librarian! I again told him to keep his promise.
He realized he wasn’t going to get another word in with me so he diverted his attention onto my 8-year old daughter, Larisa. He shook her hand, and she handed him a hand-written letter describing all the important people at her school, including her teacher and principal, the nurse and librarian. The letter also explains how disappointed she would be if her school lost those important people. He said thank you, took the letter and handed it to a staff person. I then told him I had over one hundred letters from concerned parents and I handed those to the staffer. Arnold once again said thank you and moved on, without giving me any of his ‘reform’ flyers. I was then approached by a young twenty-something asking me to sign a petition. I let him know that I would not sign because I felt this was a waste of money in a time of crisis.
In my daughter’s words, “it was awesome”. We then walked out the front of the restaurant to find a pseudo-rally taking place between Arnold supporters and education supporters. I only hope he heard the chanting “Save our Schools” outside the restaurant because that message was not as loud inside the restaurant. His presence alone was enticing enough to get unsuspecting customers to sign willingly without understanding the impact of the initiatives. I hope parents like myself will educate themselves before signing any petition. I’m hoping my few minutes of time with him gave him pause, and I truly hope he reads my daughter’s letter. If it doesn’t touch him, maybe Maria will read it.
For anyone that says our voice isn’t being heard, I was heard today, and I have to say, he listened!
Wendy Bokota
IUSD PTA Legislative Action Chair
I'm stoked by what she did. Read all about it.
Today I experienced democracy at its best and gave my kids the best civics lesson they could get. I took my kids to lunch at Red Robin in Costa Mesa in hopes we might catch a glimpse of the Governor. At the very best I thought we might be able to shake his hand. In fact, we not only got to shake hands with him but I engaged him in a one-on-one debate over the education budget.
I believe we were the last customers to get inside the restaurant, we ate our lunch and then about an hour later he appeared. I give him credit. He took the time to approach every table to shake hands and engage in discussion. I shook his hand and thanked him for the work he’s done and asked him to help me teach my kids how to keep a promise, I asked him to help me give my kids the best education possible. He proceeded to tell me he’s giving education $3 billion. I interrupted him to say in fact he was not giving $3 billion, that with the cost-shifting of teacher retirement, vehicle license fees, mental health costs, etc.. education was not receiving all that money. He went on to rhetorically ask me where I thought the money was going. He answered his own question by rattling on about collective bargaining unions. For fear my time would be up soon, I interrupted him again and told him regardless, it’s not enough, that we are not being funded appropriately, that our district is significantly under-funded, that the district is managing its money, and still my kids’ school might lose their librarian! I again told him to keep his promise.
He realized he wasn’t going to get another word in with me so he diverted his attention onto my 8-year old daughter, Larisa. He shook her hand, and she handed him a hand-written letter describing all the important people at her school, including her teacher and principal, the nurse and librarian. The letter also explains how disappointed she would be if her school lost those important people. He said thank you, took the letter and handed it to a staff person. I then told him I had over one hundred letters from concerned parents and I handed those to the staffer. Arnold once again said thank you and moved on, without giving me any of his ‘reform’ flyers. I was then approached by a young twenty-something asking me to sign a petition. I let him know that I would not sign because I felt this was a waste of money in a time of crisis.
In my daughter’s words, “it was awesome”. We then walked out the front of the restaurant to find a pseudo-rally taking place between Arnold supporters and education supporters. I only hope he heard the chanting “Save our Schools” outside the restaurant because that message was not as loud inside the restaurant. His presence alone was enticing enough to get unsuspecting customers to sign willingly without understanding the impact of the initiatives. I hope parents like myself will educate themselves before signing any petition. I’m hoping my few minutes of time with him gave him pause, and I truly hope he reads my daughter’s letter. If it doesn’t touch him, maybe Maria will read it.
For anyone that says our voice isn’t being heard, I was heard today, and I have to say, he listened!
Wendy Bokota
IUSD PTA Legislative Action Chair
posted by Dan Chmielewski at 4:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home