Thank you—and how you can help move legislators to action

Dear friend of public education, Thank you so much for signing our petition to our state legislature to fully fund textbooks for all of Indiana’s public schools. This petition has garnered almost 6,000 supporters in just two weeks, and we are thrilled about that. Here are ways you can help move this issue forward: 1) Share our petition on social media 2) If you are an Indiana resident, call one or two members of the Indiana House Ways and Means committee to express your support for House Bill 1169 and fully funding textbooks, which are essential to our kids’ education. If you are a parent who pays for textbooks, let them know what your family has foregone to be able to pay your textbook bill. If you have been subject to debt collection, please share that. Textbook fees are an undue burden on families struggling to pay mortgages, rent, and medical, grocery, and utility bills. It’s just plain wrong that our model of funding schools includes diverting education dollars toward the administration of debt collection for a supposedly free public education. Chair, Timothy Brown (R) - 800-382-9841 K-12 Subcommittee Chair, Jeffrey Thompson (R) - 800-382-9841 Melanie Wright (D, and a teacher) - 800-382-9842 Your calls will make an impact. Legislators pay attention to the volume of calls their offices receive on issues. Scott Pelath (D) is the author of the bill. He can be reached at 800-382-9842. 3) Consider reaching out to your local education reporter to bring this issue to her or his attention. 4) If textbook fees and/or debt collection have affected your family directly, please consider emailing us at icpe.mc@gmail.com. This will help us collect stories and provide a clear and specific picture to the press and to our legislators. Thank you so very much. Your voices are essential to making some much needed progress on fully funding public education in Indiana. Keri Miksza and Jenny Robinson for the Indiana Coalition for Public Education—Monroe County www.icpe-monroecounty.org P.S. You can find our blog post about the textbook bill at https://www.icpe-monroecounty.org/blog/indiana-get-rid-of-textbook-fees-for-public-school-students