Citizens United for Separaton of church and state is sending an action alert for something that is apparently happening right now. I am going to copy my email from them in the body of the diary but first I wanted to give you the best way to contact your Senator.
If you go to www.senate.gov you get the real phone numbers and email addresses for your Senator. (The republicans have a fake site that looks real, but clearly is not the true government site, as when you send information through their site you are not asked to identify where you live, etc).
See action email and Citizens United for Separation of Church and State Website below.
Citizens United for Separation of Chruch and State is a legal group that defends separation of church and state in our court system. The radical right is overwhelming them right now and any help you can give would be appreciated. Their website is
www.au.org
As you can see they give permission for you to forward this email. In the actual email there are highlighted spots to go directly to the place to contact your Senator. But if you got to www.senate.gov look in the upper right and it allows you to choose your Senator by state. Be sure to send the information to the Washington office or call if you can. The DC number will begin with 202. Thank you!
This is the email:
If you are unable to view this email, click here to view it online.
forward this message
Senate to Vote on School Vouchers TODAY
Urge Your Senators to Vote NO on Lieberman Amendment
Today, Senator Lieberman (I-CT) is planning to introduce an amendment on the Senate floor that would expand and extend the failed DC school voucher program. The Senate has rejected his attempts thus far, but the political climate is changing and we need your help to be sure they do so again today!
After sneaking through the congressional authorization process as a controversial pilot program almost 6 years ago, the DC voucher program has failed to meet its goals. Rather than providing for increased educational opportunity for the District's neediest students, the program has resulted in no significant gains for the students for whom the program is intended. Unsurprisingly, vouchers are an ineffective solution and a drain on the public school system, and it's now time to stop this taxpayer-funded program before the reach of vouchers expands further.
Public school opponents are using this as a test case. Those who believe that your tax dollars should be spent on private and parochial school tuition would love to extend the voucher program in DC, and then spread federally funded school vouchers throughout the rest of the country. Vouchers do not work - and the DC program is no exception. Students from Schools In Need of Improvement, the target population for the program, have shown no significant improvement in their voucher schools. The program is a failure and an unwise use of taxpayer dollars. With the current state of our national economy, it is imperative that we only fund programs that actually work. We need to prepare our students for the future by funding evidence-based methods of raising student achievement - not vouchers.
Please urge your Senator to take a stand against vouchers and vote NO on Lieberman Amendment to HR 4213.