Our co-directors, Cassie and Wendy, are in Springfield this week to work on a number of issues! They will be meeting with Representatives Andrade, Martwick, and Williams to work on a data privacy bill. They will also be meeting with legislators to discuss the possibility of an override vote on the class-size goals bill Governor Rauner vetoed.

Follow the action & get updates via our social media channels… For tweets from Springfield follow @RYHAction. We’ll also post updates on Facebook: Raise Your Hand Action.

Recap of College and Career Interest Task Force meeting

We were also in Springfield last week to attend the first meeting of the College and Career Interest Task Force. This task force came about as an amendment of a bill that we opposed last spring. The original bill called for ISBE to administer and share survey data from all high school juniors to public universities to help boost enrollment. While we are sympathetic to the plight of enrollment losses at public universities in IL, we hope the state will deal with the root causes of IL high school graduates choosing to attend college elsewhere—such as college is too expensive and the state has been cutting funding to higher ed. Handing over personal data is not the right way to solve this issue.

Of the 20 or so people on the task force, very few were data privacy experts, so we are glad to have a seat at the table.

What can you do this week to advance a strong public ed agenda?

Call your state reps and tell them to override HB5481 during veto session, the class size goals bill that Rauner vetoed. Find your rep here...call them and say, “I’m ____, I’m a constituent and I believe in strong public ed policies. I want the General Assembly to override HB5481 and for Rep ____ to vote yes on this bill. Class size matters!”

Save the date! November 27 is #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back

The mission is to fuel organizations that change communities and inspire action in the name of public good. As a Raise Your Hand Action supporter, you know these ideals are at the core of our organization. For the coming year, our primary funding grant is not available. With this mind, our #GivingTuesday goal is $5,000. It’s lofty, but so is our objective to protect and support high-quality, well-resourced public education for all children! We hope you’ll take part in this movement and the impact it will have on ensuring we can continue the work of RYHA. Thanks in advance for supporting us in our work! Donate here.