FIRST CALL TO ACTION FOR THE 2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

CALL WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16!!

            We are now a week into the 2019 Legislative Session.  Troy Reynolds, founder of Texans for Public Education, has put an alert out for our first CALL TO ACTION!  (Look for one from me next week on TRS-Care and our pensions!)

            Before sharing Troy’s CALL TO ACTION, if you have not joined Texans for Public Education, please do so.  Here is the link to their FB page, and here is the link to their website.

            IT IS CRITICAL THAT WE ALL DO THIS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8 A.M. AND 5 P.M.!!!!!

Here are the instructions from Troy:

Okay, it’s time for a little civil disobedience. PLEASE NOTE THAT I (Troy) HAVE TWEAKED THE SCRIPT DUE TO SOME LATE-BREAKING INFORMATION. We are going to stage our first “phone meltdown” of the session. For those who are not familiar with what this practice is, we are going to ALL call our house representative, our state senator, the Lt. Gov, and the Gov office with a scripted message. We will hinder their office operations with an outpouring of feedback on a single issue. Some rules before we get to the how/when/what to read:

1. Stay on the script. Do not ad lib. You are being recorded.

2. Be nice. No matter what they do…and the staffers do tend to get frustrated after a while…we must stay on the high road. There is no need to be uncivil.

3. Many will ask for your address. That’s just to make sure you’re actually a constituent.

4. Do not use school time. You can do this on a scheduled break like your lunch, but do not use contract time for this.

5. By the same token, use your personal phone. Do not use a school phone.

6. Know this: if an office gets six calls on the same topic, they assign a staffer to do research on the topic. You’re going to be affecting more than that day’s work. 😉

So, here’s how you do it:

1. Write down the phone numbers for the following people:

a. Your State House Representative

b. Your State Senator

If you don’t know the name or number of your representative and your senator, get them here.

c. Dan Patrick

i. Office: (512) 463-0001

ii. Message Line: (512) 463-5342

d. Greg Abbott (512) 463-2000

2. On Wednesday, January 16, between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, call the office. Tell them that you are a constituent and would like your opinion on teacher merit pay to be registered. Answer any questions they have about address, etc. Once they ask for your position, tell them the following statement:

“My name is ______, and I am a member of Texans for Public Education. I just wanted Rep./Senator/Lt. Governor/Governor  ________ to know that I am thankful that the legislature seems serious about addressing teacher pay. Anything that makes our profession more attractive to college graduates is appreciated. However, I also want to communicate that I would consider any vote for any kind of merit pay system or outcomes-based funding to be an unfriendly act toward public education which could harm the students and educators it intends to help.”

3. Call each office and do the same. Feel free to elaborate a little on why you feel this way if so prompted. If they would like for you to come in and speak to them, I encourage you to do so.

4. Come back to this thread (Troy’s thread on the Texans for Public Education Facebook page) and let folks know when you have completed this. It’s the only way for us to get a count, and it’s good for morale.

That’s it. It’s time for you to pick up the fight. We cannot wait for someone else to stand up. Either we stand up for ourselves, or we allow our voices to be ignored, and we get walked on. You must put your fear aside and get the job done. If the line is busy, that’s a good thing. Keep trying. If it’s voice mail, leave a message. (Some of them will set their phones on voice mail after a while. They will still count messages.) Encourage others to do this. Heck, print out this post and pass it around (not on school time.) We literally need THOUSANDS of you to do this for it to work. Sic ‘em

            If you want to read more about merit pay (part of outcomes-based funding) before you call, check this out.
            Here are our state representatives, and here are our senators.

            TOMORROW IS OUR FIRST CALL TO ACTION for this legislative session.  

            TOMORROW IS OUR FIRST CALL TO ACTION for this legislative session. Help make sure...