Vote Yes on SB396, No Amendments

Please read this alert carefully. It’s the most important newsletter we’ve ever sent out.

Thanks to the continued work of members of our Coalition, the Bipartisan Public Virtual School Rescue Plan will be voted on by the full State Senate next Tuesday, February 19th.

But…and this is a big but… in these politically competitive, partisan times, the closer we get to victory the greater the danger for political shenanigans. Indeed, we believe there will be attempts to impose new restrictions on virtual schools (including an arbitrarily tight enrollment cap) which are not a part of the compromise that was already negotiated and agreed upon.

1,100 of us marched on the Capitol to get us this far. Yet, while the carefully-crafted compromise passed with a unanimous bipartisan vote out of the Senate committee and by a two to one margin out of the Assembly committee, nothing is certain from this point out. So, we're not done yet!

As we said, we believe that opponents will try to attach "poison pill" amendments that, once included in the bill, would significantly alter the compromise. This would be an attempt to choke virtual schools toward their ultimate demise, or to purposely unravel the compromise. Either way, amendments to the fair compromise alter the bipartisan agreement that was announced just a few short weeks ago.

So, even though a fair, bipartisan compromise was worked out and agreed to, if we don’t keep the pressure on, this deal could fall apart.

It is imperative that this bill receive a clean vote, up or down, without amendments. This long-negotiated, bipartisan compromise saw both sides give and take. The compromise has already been agreed to and received broad, bipartisan support. Including new concepts, new ideas, or new provisions at this late date would alter the agreement and could kill the compromise.

Please, whether you've never called your legislators about this matter, or if you've called several times before:

1) call your State Senator and the Governor today. Find out who your Senator is by clicking here.

2) call the Governor's office at 608-266-1212.

ASK THEM TO SUPPORT SB 396, as is. Ask that they oppose any last minute amendments as they could scuttle the deal. No amendments. Be sure to LET THEM KNOW THAT A VOTE FOR A POISON PILL AMENDMENT WILL BE VIEWED AS A VOTE TO CHOKE AND KILL PUBLIC VIRTUAL SCHOOLS.

• Tell your Senator that as a member of the Coalition, you support a clean vote. A yes vote on SB 396. No amendments. No arbitrary enrollment caps.
• Tell the Governor's office that you hope he follows through with his support of Senator Lehman's efforts and that he will sign the compromise, as is, without amendments.

You've never had an opportunity to make a more important call for your child's educational future. This has a chance to be an extraordinary bipartisan accomplishment, at a time when progress in politics is rare. Three minutes of your time could make the difference.

Please make those two phone calls before the weekend.

Then please email the coalition at info@wivirtualschoolfamilies.org and let us know how your Senator, (and/or their staff) responds.

Thank you so much for your continued efforts. We are truly making a difference, but we are not done yet.