ACION ALERT: Attend the City Council Special Meeting Today (May 7, 2012 6:00 p.m. at 900 E. Broad Street).

[Phil Wilayto]

The following note is from Adria Scharf of the Richmond Peace and Education Center:

Parents, students, teachers and concerned community members:

I urge all who support schools to attend the City Council Special Meeting Today (May 7, 2012 6:00 p.m. at 900 E. Broad Street).

This may be the last chance for the public to influence the outcome of the school budget crisis. Please wear a WHITE T-SHIRT to the meeting if you can. (Some members of the school board are encouraging community members to attend wearing white t-shirts). [I would also add, bring signs!]

Also take a moment to send an email to city council to encourage them to seek additional funds for our city schools. Even a short email (a few sentences) means a lot. Send the email by Monday afternoon.

Without a strong community response, we'll face at least $10m in immediate cuts to RPS. This will mean cuts of more than 200 school positions including teachers.

There are five city council members who are (reluctantly) supporting this drastic cutback to the schools. Four seem to oppose many of these cuts and want to seek other solutions and funding sources to close the gap. A show of support at the meeting, and a barrage of emails, could help shift this balance.

Our schools have SO many needs. Their funding has truly been cut to the bone. The schools have already absorbed cuts each of the past several years, and are barely holding on. This city's children deserve so much more. Our school system is the foundation for everything else we talk about wanting in this city.

Email addresses for city council are below. Suggested points to email:
* $10m in cuts to RPS is NOT acceptable.
* No cuts to school staff
* Seek out additional funds for schools.

Council will be considering amendments to the budget tomorrow at 6pm; the fate of the school budget will be more or less decided at tomorrow's special meeting. (The budget will be officially voted on by city council the following week.)

Let me know if you will go, via facebook or by emailing me at sch...@rpec.org.

City Council Emails--
kathy.g...@richmondgov.com,
ellen.r...@richmondgov.com,
bruce...@richmondgov.com,
marty....@richmondgov.com,
charles...@richmondgov.com,
chris....@richmondgov.com,
cynthia....@richmondgov.com,
reva.t...@richmondgov.com,
doug....@richmondgov.com.

For more background, see today's RTD article:
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/may/06/tdmet01-richmond-schools-still-face-deficit-ar-1894088/

"Don't balance the city budget on the backs of teachers and school employees." No cuts to teachers & teacher's aides.

Strong schools = strong Richmond.

Thanks friends!
- Adria Scharf [Richmond Peace and Education Center]