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August 21, 2008

DETAILS
Districts 8, 11 and 17 are within the SUSD boundaries

Representative Voting Record

2008 General Election Ballot Measures

INFO:  Francesca Thomas
          Legislative Liaison

8-21-08 Legislative Alert

7-1-08 Legislative Alert

5-27-08 Legislative Alert

FIND/CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR

AZ STATE LEGISLATOR
MEMBER ROSTER

PROJECT VOTE SMART

 
 
LEGISLATIVE ALERT

Dear Parents and Friends of Public Education,

 We are coming off a great victory at the State Legislature- a formula for excess utilities was included in the final State budget which saved our district upwards of $5 million in our budget!  If you haven't already, please take a moment to thank Rep. Michele Reagan (R- District 8- mreagan@azleg.gov) and Sen. Carolyn Allen (R- District 8- callen@azleg.gov ) for their leadership on and steadfast support of this issue.

 But our work is never done... the Legislature is rumored to be considering a special session to revisit the budget and you can be sure that all "new" expenditures, including public school utilities, will be up for discussion.  We will keep you informed as these negotiations begin and let you know how you can help your legislators understand the importance of public education.

 In the meantime, we also have some exciting elections coming up!  Here's what you can do to get ready:

 1) Get registered!  Voter registration cards are in every school office.  If you don’t find one there, let us know and then log onto https://servicearizona.com/webapp/evoter/ to register online or download a copy of the registration form at http://www.azsos.gov/election/forms/VoterRegistrationForm.pdf.  The deadline for registration is 29 days before an election so you still have time before the general election.

 2) Discover your district!  If you do not know what your state legislative district is, simply log onto our website, and go to Legislative Watch.  There is a link called "Find Your Legislator" that will help you figure it all out.

 3) Be Informed!  Your vote makes a difference, so don't cast it until you have gotten to know the candidates and their positions on issues that are important to you.  Again, on the SPC website under Legislative Watch you will find some helpful resources.  There is a link called Representative Voting Records that will let you know how your representatives voted on the legislation pertaining to education.  Please note:  SPC did not take a position on HB  2713:  this as a religion in schools bill - so the support and oppose positions correspond only with the Arizona Education Association's positions.  Also, the reason the BUDGET line is larger is because that was the only issue SPC worked on last year and we wanted to give the issue due prominence.  This budget included the fix for excess utilities.  A "no" vote was a vote against the fix.

To also help you be informed, we have linked to the Secretary of State's webpage about the proposed initiatives for the 2008 ballot.  Please note that we will be sharing more information on the initiatives and candidates after the primaries.

 4) Get Involved!  Throughout the year, you will be asked to contact your State representatives, but why wait?!  Go ahead and send over an e-mail introducing yourself; ask about their votes on issues important to you; ask them about their platforms for this election campaign.  Remember to be brief and polite, put something in the subject line indicating the purpose of your note, and sign with your full name and address. A legislator can only represent your interests if s/he knows what they are!

 Finally, be sure to look for information on the SPC candidate forums that will be held later this Fall.  We hope to invite all the Governing Board candidates to a forum and all the State legislative candidates to one, too. This will be your chance to find out about your candidates and where public schools fit into their legislative priorities.

 Thank you for caring about public education, and for championing funding for our kids' educations.  Together, we can make a difference!

 Francesca Thomas, VP Legislative Liaison

 

 

Senate Rep.

House Rep.

House Rep.

District 8

Carolyn Allen-R

Ph:  602-926-4480

Email: callen@azleg.gov

Michele Reagan-R

Ph: 602-926-5828

Email:  mreagan@azleg.gov

John Kavanagh-R

Ph:  602-926-5170

Email:  jkavanagh@azleg.gov

 

District 11

Barbara Leff-R

Ph:  602-926-4486

Email:  bleff@azleg.gov

 

Adam Driggs-R

Ph:  602-926-3016

Email: adriggs@azleg.gov

Mark Anthony DeSimone-D

Ph:  602-926-3037

Email:  mdesimone@azleg.gov

 

District 17

Meg Burton Cahill-D

Ph:  602-926-4124

Email:  mburtoncahill@azleg.gov

Ed Ableser-D

Ph:  602-926-4118

Email:  eableser@azleg.gov

David Schapira-D

Ph:  602-926-3028

Email:  dschapira@azleg.gov

 

Governor

Janet Napolitano

azgov@az.gov

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OUR 2007-08 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Adopted 1/8/07

As approved by the executive board for the legislative session beginning January 2007:

The Scottsdale Parent Council (SPC) works as an advocate for the parents of the Scottsdale Unified School District, who want to improve the quality of public education in Arizona.  We advocate for appropriate funding of  K-12 education and oppose legislation that effectively reduces funding for K-12 public education.  The SPC also provides ongoing education of parents on legislative actions affecting public education.  The SPC Legislative Liaison is an active participant in APPLE, Arizona Parents for Public Education. 

Our legislative priorities for the 2007 session are:

1.  Support a legislative solution to the Excess Utilities Funding expiration.

2.  Support the legislative implementation of the Governor’s P-20 Agenda.

3..  Advocate for the preservation of existing funding and increased flexibility of Teacher Professional Development programs statewide.  Support other efforts designed to attract, support and retain quality teachers.

4.  Encourage efforts to find a new transportation funding formula that is equitable to all districts statewide.

5.  Support real State School Facilities Board reform that recognizes the unmet facilities needs of all districts including the modernization needs of established districts with aging facilities.

6.  Advocate for legislation to give local governing boards final approval of ballot language for Bonds and Overrides and to reverse the legislative action, taken in the last session, limiting all local education funding ballot measures to the November ballot.

7.  Support efforts to fully fund unfunded Special education mandates.

 

 

 

 

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