A Message from the MEA President regarding CYBER Schools

A MESSAGE FROM the MEA President, Steve Cook, regarding CYBER SCHOOLS!
(To take action, go to the bottom of this blog posting)

The pro cyber schools people recently launched a website that targets several legislators who are opposed or leaning opposed to SB 619. This website includes very moving stories of local kids from each legislator’s district who would benefit by cyber schools according to their parents.


Here is the release:
LANSING—Today, the Michigan Chapter of the National Coalition for Public School Options unveiled a series of websites demonstrating the impact that public cyber schools have made on Michigan students. Each of the websites appeals to a family’s State Representative to vote for Senate Bill 619.

SB 619 is a bill pending before the Michigan House of Representatives that would remove the limit on the number of students that can attend online public schools. Right now thousands of Michigan students are seeking but being denied that opportunity. Their reasons range from a desire for customized curriculum or personal access to a Michigan-certified teacher, to safety from bullying and the flexibility to speed ahead or slow down to ensure comprehension.


In one such website, Deanne T. of Macomb, writes to Representative Ken Goike: “My daughter Majestic suffers from a medical condition that is not being accommodated by her current public school. Due to her disorder, she is nearly failing, despite the fact that she was a former honor student, and suffers daily from the taunting and teasing of her fellow classmates. To receive the flexibility needed to complete her studies while receiving the care she needs, she is on the waitlist to attend an online public school.”

Majestic’s story can be found on the website http://www.repgoikemeetmajestic.com/.
More information can be found at www.PublicSchoolOptions.org/Michigan.


We are very close to having enough votes to stop this bill, but the other side is very effective at distorting the truth and playing on emotions.


We need your help. Please ask your members to call, email or write their state representative about this bill and ask them to vote no. Also, please ask parents, family, friends, neighbors, etc. to do the same. Please talk from a personal point of view.

I’ve attached my (Steve Cook's) written testimony to the House Education committee to help with talking points. Also, the MEA Voice has extensive information on this issue and is available online at http://www.mea.org/voice/2012February/2012_feb_voice/index.html.


To write your legislator in the Michigan HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES, please use your home email accounts! Click on the link below to access an easy-to-use format for emailing your representative!


CLICK HERE!


1) Tell your representative to vote "no"
2) Cyber schools are not proving to be effective education
3) Cyber schools are just a way for corporations to take public money meant for public schools
4) While computer instruction is a great tool of education, it needs to be utilized as an addendum of a live teacher’s instruction;