Park Spanish Immersion School
Site Council / PTO Joint Initiative

LEGISLATIVE LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN

Who can help?
Taxpayers, voters, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors – anyone who considers themselves a stakeholder in public education and the next generation of American citizens.

To whom to we write or call?
Legislative officials who have an impact on Minnesota’s State Education Budget and Bills. (Contact the Capitol for addresses, emails and phone numbers.)

What message are we trying to voice?
Personal stories of how ongoing budget cuts and under-funding of public education is affecting our children day by day.

How is PSI being affected by inadequate funding?
Compromised security by lack of a human monitor, severe understaffing and lack of adequate training of custodial support, creative scheduling/understaffing at the upper grade levels in order to maintain reasonable class sizes, minimal classroom instructional assistants support, inadequate building and grounds maintenance and repair. Also under-funded and areas in jeopardy due to ongoing cutbacks are: instrumental music, art, gifted and talented program, and staff development.
(NOTE to the PSI parent community: all these areas are currently being managed in a delicate balance of creative organization and extremely generous PTO support.)

What do we want?
We want the legislature to keep the promise that it made in 2001 when it assumed responsibility for funding public education. The legislature must pass a bill which includes a real inflationary increase in the basic per pupil formula allowance and restores three years worth of flat funding that has left virtually every district in the state suffering.

What are additional facts about our school district worth sharing?
Our district passed a referendum and levy in 2004 as a show of support and going back to our voters AGAIN with more cuts to an already depleted budget will result in voter fatigue.
Also, our district is sought out by parents because of quality student and staff performance and it is UNFAIR for the residence of this community and its children to be continually under valued.