Re: URGENT REQUEST FOR MOBILIZATION TODAY

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Friends and Colleagues:

The House Rules Committee meets Monday at 6:00 PM to pass a rule to place the Ed
Jobs legislation (already passed by the Senate) on the floor for final passage. A
House vote is expected Tuesday. This is the first time since 1935 that any
Speaker has ever called the House back from recess to conduct business!

Please urge your House members to vote YES on the Jobs/FMAP legislation.

Call your member of Congress at 866-608-6355 and ask him or her to support
education jobs funding. And ask your friends to do the same. If you are on
FaceBook and haven't emailed your members of Congress yet, just click the "Take
Action" tab at Speak Up for Education and Kids. Let's get this done!

      On August 5, by a vote of 61-39, the Senate passed legislation to save over
      138,000 education jobs!   This victory for educators, students, and our
      nation was a direct result of an incredible outpouring of calls, letters,
      emails and personal visits to Senators. 

      Thank Senators who voted yes, and express your disappointment to those who
      voted against saving education jobs.

      We are in the final stretch now.  The House of Representatives will return
      to Washington, DC for a special session to vote on the Senate-passed bill. 
      The vote is scheduled for Tuesday, August 10.  The House has already passed
      an education jobs bill, but because the Senate bill uses different
      "offsets" to pay for the jobs fund, the House must now pass the final
      Senate version.



At 08:23 PM 7/30/2010 -0700, George Sheridan wrote:

  Ken:

  It matters a great deal.

  The House has already passed the education jobs package once, by a
  substantial margin, so we can look forward to them passing it again.

  School will be in session almost everywhere by the time the House returns to
  Washington, but that is not too late for school districts to recall teachers
  they laid off this spring. California districts alone laid off 16,000
  teachers for the 2009-2010 school year and notified approximately that many
  more that they will have no jobs this fall. Many of those teachers are still
  hoping to be called back, and some will be. - more if we get this bill
  passed.

  The Senate has been the stumbling block on this, as it has been on most
  legislation related to human needs and social services. Now - if everything
  goes right - we  may have the necessary sixty votes in the Senate, so calls
  and emails before 5:30 PM EST on Monday are worth the effort.

  By the way: my first teaching job after working for the United Farm Workers
  began two weeks after the start of school. My current district has often
  hired people after Labor Day. when we see the actual enrollment. A job that
  begins two weeks late is a lot better than no job at all.


  At 09:08 PM 7/30/2010 -0400, Kenneth J. Bernstein wrote:

    George

    it does not make a difference right now -  the House is out of session,
    and absent anything the Senate passes being identical to what the House
    passed, it has to sit until they come back after Labor Day, too late to
    save most teacher jobs, unfortunately.

    Ken  Bernstein


  George Sheridan