Dear friends of FairTest

["Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>]

October 1, 2007

Dear friends:

Visitors to the FairTest office in Cambridge come away with a common 
reaction . . . SHOCK!

They simply cannot believe that such a small staff - less than four 
full-time equivalents - accomplishes so much on such a slim budget.

Last month alone, FairTest spent days in Washington, DC, convening the large 
and diverse "No Child Left Behind" reform coalition we coordinate and 
meeting with many Congressional staff.  Nearly 140 major education, civil 
rights, disability, religious, civic and labor groups have now signed on to 
our "Joint Statement" of reform principles. Combined with your grassroots 
pressure, this unprecedented group of allies has changed the frame of debate 
on Capital Hill. Much more remains to be done.

At the same time, our campaign to eliminate test-based barriers to higher 
education continues to rack up success. Four more colleges dropped their 
ACT/SAT admissions exam requirements, bringing the number of test-optional 
schools to more than 740. Hundreds of thousands of students, parents, 
teachers and counselors now rely on FairTest lists and fact sheets to guide 
their applications each year.

The news media recognize FairTest's leadership. In August, we were quoted 
twice each in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and by the 
Associated Press national wire. All told, we did more than 60 interviews, 
with our views appearing in literally hundreds of outlets across the 
country.

The more we succeed, however, the greater the requests for our help. To add 
the staff and resources required to expand the fight for fair and open 
assessment, FairTest needs your continued financial backing.

Please help fuel an expanded testing reform movement by making a generous 
gift to FairTest today. You can donate at 
https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk or use the address 
below my signature.

Thank you for your continued support.

Monty

Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Co-Executive Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224
monty@fairtest.org
http://www.fairtest.org
Donate: https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk