We lost. Not enough legislators have strong enough connections to our families and online public school programs to protect us from funding cuts.
We fought valiantly. I'm heartsick, yet we were heard. Legislators struggled up to the very last few hours trying to reach a "fair" agreement. In the end they just jammed thru a 15% cut to ALE programs in general and handed over the problem to OSPI to figure out where and how to make the cuts.
The new law (once the governor signs it) says no program will be cut less than 10% or more than 20%. A report from OSPI is due by Dec 31, 2011. There will be new battles over what the words mean. We will need to continue to be involved in these decisions, though not on an hour-to-hour, day-by-day basis.
Where we really need to ramp up our involvement is to engage legislators directly with our families and our online programs. Some legislators understand. Most do not. We need our own ?Call to Action" for all our families to make it a priority to provide their own three legislators with personal demonstrations of how an online program operates. Our coalition can coordinate our efforts. I can send out a Survey Monkey to generate interest and collect commitments for a huge statewide campaign. Summer picnics? October gatherings in libraries? Your ideas???!
You need to know that all your calls and emails were heard. Thanks to you, the final new law did not cut online programs 20% across-the-board like they first proposed and it improves some ALE policies. We have some real champions and others who seriously disappointed us. I'll save that for another message when the dust settles.
For now be relieved that it's over and we're left standing to face another day. Together we're building a strong team so we'll be even bigger winners next time! Everyone needs a breather right now. I hope you'll join me to focus your energy on coming up with practical, effective, comfortable, fun, affordable ways to connect online families with their legislators. Mark your calendars for next year's "Online Learning Day at the Capitol" on Feb. 21, 2012 and send your thoughts to info@waonlinefamilies.org
