I was thrilled to join students, parents, educators and civil rights leaders to officially launch the campaign to #FundOurFuture on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at the Massachusetts State House.
CPS is part of a new and growing coalition with a simple, clear message: It’s time for Governor Baker and the legislature to make it their top priority to reinvest $1.5 billion a year in public education, from pre-K through higher education. We expect this coalition to expand; founding members include American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Boston Teachers Union, Citizens for Public Schools, FairTest, Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, Massachusetts Jobs With Justice, Massachusetts Teachers Association, NAACP New England Area Conference, and PHENOM (Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts).
As I told Masslive, “We’re basically just calling on legislators to keep their promise to cherish our public schools and fund them adequately.”
Click here to read summaries of the two Fund Our Future-backed bills, one for K-12 and the other for higher education. Contact your legislator and urge them to co-sponsor the two bills, if they haven’t already!
We will be keeping you up to date on every action and event throughout 2019. To amplify our efforts, follow us on Twitter & Facebook.
(Photo by Max Page)
At the launch, Ricardo Rosa, a CPS board member, New Bedford Public School parent and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth professor, spoke from the heart about what underfunding looks like.
“Every year we have to live with the constant threats of budget cuts of one type or another. Most recently we have been dealing with the prospect of charter school expansion that will siphon an additional $15 million from our public school district – that’s on top of an already fragile budget marked by years of austerity.”
He denounced our state’s underfunded and increasingly separate and unequal school system. “I put this question to our legislators,” Rosa said. “Are some Massachusetts children more deserving and more valuable than others or are we born equal in dignity and rights?”
Click here to read about more about the launch and the comments of all the speakers.
This crucial campaign will need all hands on deck to be successful. (Email me if you want to volunteer; we’d like representatives in every community.)
Here’s to a year of action in 2019!
Lisa Guisbond
CPS Executive Director
