I oppose SB6 and it's House counterpart. In this open letter, I call upon the current Representative in Florida's 5th District (Virginia Brown-Waite) to join me in opposing this blatant ASSAULT against teachers! Will she do the right thing and respond? Or, will she simply stand to the "right"? One can only guess...
April 9, 2010
Congresswoman Virginia Brown-Waite
414 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Congresswoman Brown-Waite,
As a parent of children attending public schools, a constituent and political candidate the assault on the teachers of our state taken by the Florida legislature is appalling. By now you must have heard that Florida SB6 was passed through the Florida House of Representatives early this morning. The vote was passed after nine hours of debate and with eleven Republicans joining the common sense Democrats who feel that this bill assaulting teachers and school districts is unconscionable. I realize that this is a state legislative issue however since it affects so many of the constituents of this district your opposition is vital.
I would be remiss not to mention that the bill was authored by the recently elected chairman of the Florida Republican Party and introduced at a time fitting retribution for passage of the health care reform bills.
At a time when school districts should be financially investing their resources into reforming the system to prepare young minds for opportunities of the 21st century, they will now be forced to spend billions of dollars on reforming teacher pay, creating tests, monitoring and evaluating systems to ensure compliance with this ridiculous law change.
This is a time when the legislature in Tallahassee, as well as Washington, should be investing in reforming teaching to match how children of today learn; using multimedia, the internet and the tools of today rather than clinging to 19th century teaching techniques.
You had previously stated that you voted against the C.O.P.S. bill because none of the sheriffs from our district asked you to vote for it. After voting against the "stimulus bill", you signed a letter, just days after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law, asking that Florida receive a waiver for education funds because our state is currently spending below 2006 levels on education. Below are two examples, from today’s St. Petersburg Times where the heads of the school districts, directly here in Florida’s 5th Congressional District are saying this bill would devastate the education system in our district financially.
Pat Fagan, chairman of the Hernando County School Board said "it’s going to be a big challenge."
Heather Fiorento, superintendent of schools in Pasco County stated "You’re talking major money in a dwindling economy."
It is time to end the assault on our teachers and get to work reforming and overhauling our education system. It is clear that the Florida legislature is comfortable with having billions spent overhauling certain portions of our children's education, let’s encourage them, together, to put that money to better use by providing kids with better textbooks, more computers in the classrooms and utilize multimedia to enrich education for today’s children.
I look forward to you joining me in opposition of this bill, by urging Governor Charlie Crist to veto this financially crippling bill.
Sincerely,
Jim Piccillo
Candidate
US House of Representatives, Florida's 5th District
Learn more about Jim: http://www.jimpiccillo.com
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