Colleagues,
I just want to take a minute to ask you all to continue doing whatever you can to promote participation in the upcoming
PreK-12 Lobby Day on April 30th. We have a goal of at least twenty participants per region. I hope each region will meet or exceed that goal.
Our goal is to pass
SB2288, a new education funding proposal. Against the odds, this bill is gaining traction. The opportunity is greater than we might have anticipated just a few weeks ago.
To succeed, we need member action.
Recently, I have testified in front of legislative committees and the lobbyists are talking to all the right players in the legislature. However, those tactics by themselves won't be enough. Policymakers care what the lobbyists and I have to say because we represent 132,000 IEA members.
To pass SB2288, we need you. We need your involvement. You need to be a presence the legislators can see, hear and feel.
The legislators need to know that failure to act brings greater political risk to them than ending another legislative session with no long term solutions in place. They need to hear from you (again in many cases) powerfully and persuasively how their action or inaction will impact you and your ability to do your best work for students.
We have a choice. We can choose to accept the Illinois we have now with the broken funding system, woeful pension funding, and year to year budget crises. We can allow the cynicism and defeats of the past dissuade us from seeking the change we need and deserve.
OR, we can seize this opportunity and make the most of it. As I said at the RA, I believe in us. I believe in our capacity to be a catalyst that can change the reality in Illinois.
By participating in Lobby Day, you can use that powerful voice from back home to respectfully, but forcefully let them know we are tired of the excuses and evasion of responsibility. They are the only ones who can fix the problem. We have to show them that we expect action.
Together, we can seize this window of opportunity and make something happen. Yes, even in an election year.
I look forward to seeing you in Springfield soon. I hope I might even see some of you twice at both the
Higher Ed coalition lobby day and the
IEA Lobby Day. Both are great opportunities for you to make a difference.
I hope you all had or are having a great Spring Break.
Ken