We need your help! With just five days left of the 81st Legislative Session, there are entities and individuals hard at work to kill House Bill 130 (Patrick), which would expand pre-k from a half day to a full day.

We need to make sure legislators understand the facts about House Bill 130. The fate of the bill rests in your hands today!

Sample Letter for Campaign

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

As a member of your constituency, it is important to me that you support HB 130. It has come to my attention that opponents of the bill are doing all they can to derail support for high-quality pre-k in Texas. I hope I can count on you to listen to the facts about HB 130.

House Bill 130 DOES do the following:

1.House Bill 130 DOES ensure an enhanced quality full-day pre-kindergarten program that works. Texans have 112 real life examples that full day pre-k works, as demonstrated by each of the Tier 2 Prekindergarten Early Start (PKES) school districts that now have their 3rd graders performing at or above state averages on the TAKS.

2.House Bill 130 DOES incentivize and reward programs that are meeting proven, high quality standards such as class size limits, staff to child ratios, and reporting and evaluation methods.

3.House Bill 130 DOES ensure collaboration. HB 130 requires a minimum 20% participation level and will move the state forward in building a system of high quality, tax saving partnerships.

4.House Bill 130 DOES ensure accountability. HB 130 requires accountability measures such as student achievement reports to the Texas Education Agency (TEA); an evaluation component; and a reading diagnosis.

House Bill 130 DOES NOT do the following:

1.House Bill 130 DOES NOT take money previously allotted to Tier 3 Prekindergarten Early Start (PKES) grantees. Priority funding decisions for the Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 grantees are made by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The Texas Legislature must decide how to allocate any new dollars to ensure that ALL school districts impacted by the changes to the Prekindergarten Early Start (PKES) grant program have the funding necessary to ensure no children are negatively impacted.

2.House Bill 130 DOES NOT benefit only one school district. While there was an initial ask of $300 million dollars at the beginning of the legislative session, the money available for all early education programs has become more and more limited. Therefore, with a $25 million dollar investment, HB 130 would be a pilot project benefitting 11 school districts. The greater the investment, the greater the number of school districts impacted.

I hope I can count on your support this week when HB 130 comes up for consideration on the Senate Floor.

Thank you for your service to our state in the Texas Senate.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 27, 2009