[Northampton-GP] fight Romney - help override his veto of exempting two-way bilingual programs

[NeilESL at aol.com]

There is a chance we may be able to override Romney's veto of the two-way 
bilingual exemption added to question 2, but people need to write their state 
reps. and senators now. 

Info is below.

1) Information on the override
2) How to write your represenatives
3) Sample letter to send

1) Romney has vetoed the Two-Way bilingual ed exemption from the budget.  
This  has been expected given his stated position and continual resistance to 
amending any portions of Question Two.

The next step is to lobby the Rep's and Senators to override the veto with a 
2/3 vote in the House and the Senate. 
It's critical for advocates to first call Speaker Finneran (617-722-2500) and 
John Rogers (617-722-2990) to make sure that the House would put Two-Way 
bilingual education as one of the items for override consideration.  The Speaker 
has total control over which item the House would bring up for an override 
vote.  


We must also call our own representatives to ask the Speaker to include the 
Two-
Way Bilingual education exemption as one of the items for an override.   We 
should tell the legislators that it's critical to save this highly successful 
education Program where both mainstream and bilingual students benefit and 
where students become bilingual while excelling in English and academics.  If we 
are successful with the House, we can similarly target the Senate.  
Please write now. Thanks.

2) How to write your representative or senator :

State Rep or State Senator
State House District Office 
Boston, MA 02133

web addresses for senators and house members 
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/memmenus.htm
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/memmenuh.htm
if you don't know who your reps are, call (617) 727-2828

3) A sample letter is below.
subject line of e-mail : 


Please include the two-way bilingual ed. exemption as an override item

Dear Rep or Sen with name

Please consider bringing the two-way bilingual education exemption amendment 
for an override vote, needed because of Governor Romney's veto. Please ask 
that Speaker Finneran or Senate President Travaglini place the amendment on 
docket to be voted upon by the full legislative body.

The amendment will allow parents and children the right to choose the type of 
education they desire by allowing for the highly successful two-way bilingual 
programs. Just as charter schools provides a valid choice for parents, 
two-way bilingual programs in cities such as Boston, Cambridge, and Framingham have 
proven to be a valid option for both English and Spanish speaking parents. The 
MCAS scores from these programs also prove that students are achieving at 
high levels. The achievement of the schools, teachers, parents, and students 
should be rewarded by allowing these programs to be exempted from the requirements 
of question #2.

Thank you for your time.

Your Constituent,
name and address
   



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