SOS Invitation to Senator Casey

Below is my note to Ms. Kim Bierly (PA Senator Robert Casey's contact). Maybe we should all send personal invitations to our elected representatives.

Dear Ms. Bierly,

It has now been almost 5 months since we (Michele Gray and I) met with you to talk about Senator Casey's position on standardized testing, NCLB and Race to the Top. We have heard nothing. I hope this is just a communication error.

Maybe the Senator can come to the The Save Our Schools March (http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/) which will be held in Washington, D.C. July 28-31. You can check the website for more details. I also wanted to invite Senator Casey to my presentation at American University on Friday, July 29th in the Anderson Computing Complex, Room B12 at 1:45 pm. I will be delivering a workshop for parents on how to "prefer not to," opt out, or boycott No Child Left Behind testing (PSSAs) in the 2011-2012 school year. The workshop is based on my HuffPost (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-d-slekar/rejecting-standardized-tests_b_822014.html) from February that started the boycott movement. The blog has been reposted and shared thousands of times, featured in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/march-madness-my-name-is-luke-and-i-refuse-to-take-your-test/2010/12/20/ABdSAYN_blog.html), and prompted CNN and FOX to cover my boycott of NCLB testing.

Hundreds of parents across the country have contacted me for advice on how to organize boycott efforts in their states. I have worked with these parents and was recruited to present a workshop at the SOS march. Hopefully you and Senator Casey can see the importance of the March as the only real grassroots effort to truly advocate for public schools, children, parents and communities. Hopefully the Senator can stop by.

Regards,

Tim