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BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS AND SCHOOL FUNDING 101
The NEW NC budget for 2021-2023 was due June 30th and we are STILL waiting on the General Assembly. The Governor, House, and Senate have each submitted their budgets, and it is now in "Conference Committee" behind closed doors while the House and Senate come to a compromise. Neither the House nor the Senate's budgets encompass the whole of the Leandro Plan that is mandated by the Courts to provide a sound basic education for NC students. This Leandro Case has been going on 27 years and reflects the BASEMENT Threshold that is required for public education in NC. Time is of the essence!
Our Every Child NC Coalition partners Save Our Schools NC's Susan Book and Renee Sekel presented "School Funding 101" on Monday, August 30th on Zoom. It is a GREAT overview of how complicated the funding for schools is in NC. They discuss the Leandro Plan and how the General Assembly can't pick and choose pieces to fund. It MUST fund ALL of it. It also goes into the Covid relief money that is available to NC and when it needs to be spent. As advocates, we need to understand how funding works to be able to apply the most leverage to the correct
NOW IS THE TIME to contact your NC House Representatives and NC Senators to ask them to #PrioritizeStudents and #LeadWithLeandro. Here is a basic list of the Email addresses for all the Budget Conference Committee members who are working right now to draft the final budget. PLEASE email them today! Here is a sample email to make your own:
Dear Conference Committee Members,
As a concerned citizen of North Carolina and public education supporter, I am writing today to ask you to FULLY FUND the Leandro Plan. It is not a menu for you to pick and choose which parts you want to abide by. It is a court mandated order that NC owes a sound basic education to the students of our state, and this plan is the bottom level minimum that is required. The money is available to be spent on public education. Please spend it on our children.
I appreciate your time and look forward to seeing the Leandro Plan fully funded in the 2021-2023 budget.
Thank you,
Title, Name, city, zip.
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Not sure who your NC General Assembly Legislators are? Find out here.
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PNCC Executive Director The Rev. Suzanne Miller participated in a Press Conference in Louisburg, NC on Saturday, June 12 calling for the Legislature to prioritize students in their budget process. Simultaneously Rev. Antonio Blow and Rev. Karen Ware Jackson spoke in Greenville, NC on the same topic. Here are some links to the News Coverage of these events:
PNCC's full statement on the need to Prioritize Students can be found here.
Willing to Speak at a Press Conference?
PNCC has opportunities to speak at various press conferences across NC around supporting public schools and the students they serve. We provide you support and the statement to read for these opportunities. The opportunities often come together very quickly, so having a list of potential speakers is helpful. Iif you'd like to be on the list to call for possible speaking opportunities in your area, please let Suzanne know!
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Join PNCC on September 21st at 2pm For a Presentation on Education Advocacy in NC
Earlier this year CBFNC hosted a Christian Advocacy 101 webinar series where we explored advocacy work as a natural extension of our church's commitment to mission work. This fall we will take a deep dive into advocacy work happening in our state and explore ways your congregation can get involved. Our first session will be held Tuesday, September 21 at 2pm. Suzanne Miller, from Pastors for NC Children, will facilitate our conversation about education advocacy. Register for this webinar here.
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Join PNCC on October 9th with Dr. Noliwe Rooks!
PNCC will be participating in the Public Schools First NC Conference on October 9th. Make plans to attend and invite a friend to join us for this wonderful event.
We are looking forward to hearing from Keynote Speaker Dr. Noliwe Rooks. Rooks is a Professor at Brown University and before that she taught at Cornell and Princeton. She is the author of Cutting School (The New Press) as well as White Money/Black Power and Hair Raising. The 2021 Conference will address the impact of privatization on our public schools over the past decade and recent legislative actions. Current plans are to hold this conference in-person at the McKimmon Center at NC State University in Raleigh if allowed.
Details: https://www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org/event/save-the-date-impact-of-privatizing-public-schools-2021-conference/
This presentation from Cornell gives a glimpse of her work in Cutting School: The Segrenomics of Education. Watch the full hour presentation here.
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PNCC is looking forward to the Color of Education virtual event on October 26-27th. Join the Public School Forum’s Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity, along with partners, the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University, in critical conversations centered on addressing issues of racial equity and education at this year’s Color of Education Summit! Tickets are available now!
Nikole Hannah-Jones will be the Keynote Speaker again this year as she continues the conversation she started as the Keynote in 2018. Here is the link to her presentation from then.
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Know of an event we are missing from our list? Send them to us.
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Public Education Advocacy and Faith: Why The Church Should Care
Last September Pastors for NC Children partnered with the NC Conference of the United Methodist Church United Methodist Advocates for Public Schools (UMAPS) and Saint Francis United Methodist Church's UMAPS team to present "Public Education Advocacy and Faith: Why The Church Should Care." If you missed it last September, or even if you saw it, we invite you to revisit the presentation. Sadly few of the conditions in the State have improved since then in public education, and many are only worse. Hear from guests Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Kris Nordstrom, and Lynn Edmonds, and Moderators Bill Campbell and Rev. Lib Campbell. Find all the resources and full video on our website.
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Steven Reeves and Rev. Katie Ferguson Murray wrote this handbook for congregations about advocacy. They offer Advocacy 101 topics to start, and then spend time looking more in depth at predatory lending, immigration and refugees, and racial justice as examples of congregational advocacy. It's a great introduction for pastors and congregations who want to get involved. |
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Love Our Children, New Hanover County
At our August Ministry Leaders Gathering, we heard from Love Our Children leaders Peter Rawitsch and Veronica McLaurin-Brown from New Hanover County (Wilmington) about their efforts to end school suspensions for children ages 4-7 in the New Hanover County Schools. This age group accounts for 40% of the suspensions in Elementary School, and there are better way to help children learn and behave in school than suspend them and take away their right to education. Learn more about how you can get involved by emailing Peter Rawitsch. |
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A PRAYER FOR PUTTING ON A MASK
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The Right Reverend Richard Bott is the current Moderator of the United Church of Canada. He composed this beautiful prayer for when we put our masks on, and has given permission for it to be shared (asking only that we attribute it to him).
Creator,
as I prepare to go into the world,
help me to see the sacrament
in the wearing of this cloth –
let it be “an outward sign
of an inward grace” –
a tangible and visible way
of living love for my neighbours,
as I love myself.
Christ,
since my lips will be covered,
uncover my heart,
that people would see my smile
in the crinkles around my eyes.
Since my voice may be muffled,
help me to speak clearly,
not only with my words,
but with my actions.
Holy Spirit,
as the elastic touches my ears,
remind me to listen carefully –
and full of care –
to all those I meet.
May this simple piece of cloth
be shield and banner,
and each breath that it holds,
be filled with your love.
In your Name
and in that love,
I pray.
May it be so.
May it be so.
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Connect With Pastors for NC Children:
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