HB 422 Vote--Wed. Afternoon

A friend of mine forwarded this email to me. I'll share it with you here.

Dear Parent,
I am asking you to support House Bill 422 by contacting your state representative and state senator ASAP. The House Revenue and Finance Committee will have a hearing on this bill Wednesday, May 31 at 3:00 PM. HB 422 provides $750 per student per year in Delaware's public charter schools. Charter schools are the only public schools that do not receive this "bricks and mortar" funding. Charters must use operating funds to pay for capital expenses. Presently traditional public schools receive approximately $1410 per student annually.

Call, fax, or e-mail your state legislators to request their support for HB 422. If you do not know your elected officials you can go to http://www.congress.org/ and click on "state officials" on the left side of the home page. Select "Delaware". Click on "My Elected Officials" at the bottom of the page. Enter your street address and city. Your state senator and representative will be displayed at the bottom of the page.

Help us to eliminate this unfairness toward charter schools. Support HB 422.

Sincerely,
Ronald R. Russo
President

Many of the charter schools are doing a terrific job of educating our kids in Delaware. Although harassing the charter schools seems good sport to many public school supporters, it is time to move passed the hard feelings and support these attempts to improve education in Delaware. There is no need for favoritism toward the status quo public schools by denying adequate funding for charters or for enmity between charters and regular public schools. After all, both have the same goals at heart--educating kids.

While some may think this bill benefits the Charter School of Wilmington, Mr. Russo, in fact, is seeking help on behalf of all the charters and by extention, all their students---flesh and blood kids. It would be a shame if the animosity seen a couple months ago in the letters to the editor page of the WNJ toward CSW was to extend to the other charter schools, causing hardship for all.

Update: PolitaKid has special interest in this issue and has further information on this topic here.