Save Our Schools: Urgent Action/We need YOU

[Vernadette Gonzalez]

Save Our Schools-Hawaii is succeeding in putting pressure on our leaders and increasing visibility on the lack of progress and motivation that has stalled negotiations once more. Our third day/night in the governor's office has meant citations for trespassing, but also inter/national news coverage in Huffington Post, The New York Times, and the UK Guardian, the Daily Kos blog, as well as local media. Our twitter account #sos808 is also being followed by lots of people and support has been fantastic over email, twitter and facebook. 

Success means we need to keep working harder to keep the momentum going. SOS will keep this protest action up for as long as we can sustain it, but we need your help, as we are spread thin. We know you care, and here are the ways that you can be involved.

We need volunteers over the weekend! There are three related events that SOS Hawaii is sponsoring as part of the weekend, continuous vigil that the sit-ins began. 

First: 

Saturday, April 10, from 9-12: Sign-waving

Come out to Washington Place, on Beretania across from the state capitol, to rally against furlough fridays. Join those who have been sitting in at the Governor's Office since 2:30pm on Wednesday.

Take a stand against the attack on our education system.
Join in on the fun and help fight for the future of our keiki and our state.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We need to FIX THIS NOW!

What to bring:
Friends
Sunscreen
Hat
Water
Signs
Spirit/Enthusiasm!

RSVP at our facebook, or by replying to this email. 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100176533359621&index=1

SECOND

We want to exert continuous pressure on all of our leaders over the weekend. While we have a Saturday morning sign-waving and a Sunday evening celebration, we also need volunteers to take on the harder job of being present when there's no cameras around, and no one to see them.
Looking for people to keep a vigil, hold signs, light candles (once it gets dark) between Saturday, April 10 at noon and Sunday at 5:30, when the celebration starts, and again after the celebration, April 11 at 7:30 or so to Monday morning, April 12 at 7:45, when we once again go in to see the governor at her office. Please RSVP and sign up for 2-4 hour shifts.

So, far, we need folks especially for noon to midnight shifts on Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 4:30 pm shifts on Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. shifts from Sunday night to Monday morning.

RSVP at our facebook, or by replying to this email

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112252185461490&index=1

THIRD

Come and celebrate on Sunday, April 11, 2010: We want to come together as a community of different stakeholders in public education, and recognize the hard work that has gone into this. 

On Sunday, April 11 at 5:30 PM, Save Our Schools Hawaii will host a celebration in support of the Stop the Furloughs sit in at the state capital rotunda. Since Wednesday parents, children and supporters have been staging a sit-in at Governor Linda Lingle’s office demanding a commitment to end public school furloughs. 

The outpouring of support for the sit-in has been overwhelming, but not everyone can commit to joining the sit-in. On Friday evening they were issued citations for trespass. They were warned that the next step may be arrest. 

The celebration at the capital is an opportunity for everyone in Hawaii who supports quality education to be involved. We call on the parents, aunties and uncles of Hawaii to come out in celebration. We call on the artists, musicians and performers of Hawaii to come out to share their gifts. Especially, we call on the teachers and students of Hawaii, those with the most at stake, to come out in support of education. Education is not just a fundamental right, it is also a vital investment in our state’s future. 

Finally, we urge anyone who cannot make it to the capital on Sunday, especially those on the neighbor islands, to instead hold their own events and to post their activities, attendance and pictures on the Save Our Schools-Hawaii facebook group site

RSVP at our facebook, or by replying to this email

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109613885738623&index=1

FOURTH:

SPREAD THE WORK! FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR LISTS AND YOUR FRIENDS, JOIN SOS ON FACEBOOK (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=164621803289&ref=ts) AND TWITTER (#SOS808).

On behalf of Save Our Schools,

Vernadette Gonzalez