Nine Million Reasons to Speak Up

Dear PTA Leaders,

To gear up for the PTA Legislative Conference in February, Ninth District PTA is sponsoring advocacy training right here in San Diego. “Legislative advocacy” is a fancy-sounding term for getting laws passed and money allocated to promote education and protect children.

If you CARE about cuts to education budgets, middle-school students getting recruited by gangs, unhealthy food in school cafeterias, elimination of school nurses, cyber-bullying, kids falling through cracks in the foster care system…then YOU have what it takes to be a legislative advocate!
Not only is Ninth District PTA preparing parents to meet with legislators in Sacramento, February 7-8, they also want to train parents to meet with legislators in their home offices, right here in San Diego.

Everyone is welcome to attend this free one-hour advocacy training even if you can’t go to Sacramento.

Legislative Advocacy Training Led by Bey-Ling Sha, Sacramento Safari Chair
Tuesday, January 18, 6-7 p.m., and Wednesday, January 19, 10-11 a.m.
Pick one date that works with your schedule.
San Diego County Office of Education
6401 Linda Vista Road, Room 304, San Diego, CA 92111

RSVP to Ninth District PTA (858) 268-8077 or phoebe@sdcoe.net

Laura Schumacher
President, San Diego Unified Council of PTAs
P.S. It’s not too late to sign up for the Leg Conference – details below.

Nine Million Reasons to Speak Up
2011 California State PTA Legislation Conference
February 7-8, 2011
Embassay Suites Hotel
Sacramento CA

Why would your PTA use its limited funds to send representatives to Sacramento? The answer: California is in crisis. Our schools continue to lose programs and staff members due to budget cuts in Sacramento. There are more than nine million children in California and they need our help. Hundreds of special interest lobbyists are asking lawmakers to fund their causes. Who will speak out for the children?

On February 7 and 8, Ninth District PTA will take a small army of volunteers to Sacramento to do just that. Policymakers and experts will speak to us about the issues facing our state and our schools. Our Advocacy Team members will accompany you to meetings with lawmakers to spotlight issues of concern to your PTA members. We urge all our units to send a representative if your budget allows.

Estimated Conference Costs

• Conference Registration (includes Monday dinner and Tuesday lunch at Capitol) $165
• Embassy Suites hotel (2 double beds) $169 per night
• Round trip Air Travel – attendees can book their own flights online $150 estimate
• Transportation from airport to hotel – Embassy Suites offers complimentary airport shuttle

To register, go to www.capta.org.
Questions? Contact Margie Fish, VP of Legislation, San Diego Unified Council of PTA at mefish@san.rr.com.