In February 10-11, 2019, we had 14 WEPR members attend the NYS PTA Legislative Summit and Lobby Day! The WEPR group was the largest group there!
On Lobby Day, our group was busy! We visited Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr., Senator Shelley Mayer, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, Assemblyman Sandy Galef, Assemblyman Steve Otis, Senator Pete Harckham, Senator David Carlucci, and Assemblyman Amy Paulin and Assemblyman Kevin Byrne.
Thank you to the WEPR Team!
Team members were Michelle Balachandran, Tracy Hill, Rob Rijos, Sophia Wu, Anna-Christina Allen, Devin Barbera, Mary McNamara, Beth Sniffen, Marjorie Miller, Melissa Cancro, Jenean Eichenholtz, Joyce White, Mindy Wintemantel and Jane Harsha.
If you did not get to attend, do not worry! There are more opportunities for you to add your voice on these issues. Every Tuesday, NYS PTA has Take Action Tuesday! NYS PTA has made advocating on these issues so easy to do. You just click here on Take Action. Click on the issue you want to advocate for. You can add a personal message in the box at the top. Add your name, address and email address and click send. In less than 5 minutes, you can take action from your home! You can save your info to make the process quicker the next time you take action! If you missed any Take Action Tuesdays, you can go back and send those emails too!
Since we are a large organization with people from different backgrounds, values, politics, cultures and religions, you may not agree with every issue. That is okay. Just send the ones that you support! If there are issues that your school district is facing, look at how NYS PTA laid out their position papers and model your own after that. If you need help talking with or contacting your local representative, please contact Jenean Eichenholtz, the Advocacy Chair at weprpta@gmail.com or any WEPR Board member for help. If they don’t know, they will find a person who can help you.
If you have issue that you feel passionately about, share it! You can write a position paper or resolution for NYS PTA can consider to take on state wide! Resolutions are due by April 15th. Resolutions come from NYS PTA membership. Click here to learn more!
Here are the 2019 Advocacy Papers. Feel free to share with your members, school district and community. We need as many voices as we can get!
Supporting English Language Learners and Their Families
Support School-Based Mental Health Services for Students
Supports for Recovery High Schools, and the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
Oppose the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana
NYS PTA Calls for a $2.2 Billion Increase to Support Our Students
Every Child, Their Safety: Keeping Our Children Safe in School
Supporting Our Youngest Learners
