Support Public Education, Oppose Privatization

The next regular meeting of the Bedford Public School Board will be Thursday, February 2nd, 7:00 PM at Monroe Road Elementary School, 7979 Monroe Road, Lambertville, MI.

The Board of Education supports preserving the direct employment of its staff and the decision to outsource has been postponed for at least the comming year. But the fiscal reality is that Lansing has cut funding so severely that they many need to revisit the issue to stay solvent in the future.

The Board has invited some of our lawmakers from Lansing to attend the upcoming meeting. Rep. Rick Olsen has agreed to be present, Gov. Rick Snyder, Sen. Randy Richardville, and Rep. Dale Zorn have also been invited.

Your presence at this meeting could be helpful in letting lawmakers in Lansing know just how much we care about the funding of public education and how much we oppose the privatizing of public services for private profit.

Be the sign. Wear your message on your shirt. This isn't a protest or a rally, it is a board meeting and your presence in the room says more than banners and bullhorns outside the school would.

Be polite. Remember, our school board members are over the barrel and have been put there by the lawmakers in Lansing. There are very few board members or administrators who wish to reduce public services or privatize them.

Speak if you have something to say. There are public comment opportunities at the beginning and end of board meetings. Remember that the board has business to conduct and it may be best to reserve you public comments for the end of the meeting. Be brief and to the point so that others will have time to speak.

Be familiar with the issue. Lawmakers in Lansing reduced support for public education $470 per pupil for a total of $930,663,300. The same lawmakers gave corporations a $1,647,700,000 tax cut! And now there is an expected reported $663,000,000 surplus in the budget. Lansing lawmakers created the problem and then they pushed the privatization solution on the local school boards.