To Liz and others who know of action alerts we need to act on.

[Guest guest]

Liz and everyone -- I have a " A Call to Action " page on the Texas Autism

Advocacy website.

That is for anyone to post their Action Alert and sample letter to send,

etc.

That way parents can direct other parents to that page of the website and

not have to dig through archives to find the alert and sample letter....

Do you want to send me something at MGuppy@... to put on there

for you? Currently the page is blank. Just send exactly what you want

on there, and I'll put it on there.

Liz and Troy writes:

> Folks you are all doing great! I am getting letters to give to

> Senator Shapiro and others are sending their letters directly to all

> the individual Senators on the Public Education Committee. I am

> going to be a like a broken record on this issue until the interim

> Senate hearing on public school choice (Sept. 2006) is over so bear

> with me...

>

> Below is a sample letter that can be cut and pasted and sent to me

> ( tscillian@... )or it can be sent directly to the Senators

> on the Public education committee, whatever is easier for you. You

> can add/delete and make changes to the letter to fit your individual

> families needs and or issues.

>

> Happy advocating!

> liz

>

> Public Education Committee members-

> Chair:

> Senator Florence Shapiro

> Vice-Chair:

> Senator Royce West

> Members:

>

> Senator Kip Averitt

> Senator Janek

>

> Senator Steve Ogden

> Senator Todd Staples

>

> Senator Van de Putte

> Senator Tommy

>

> Senator Judith Zaffirini

>

> -------SAMPLE LETTER------

>

> DATE

>

> Senator

>

> Austin, TX

>

> RE: Autism Education Scholarships

>

> Honorable

>

> I am sure you are aware of the unique educational challenges each

> student with autism faces. These challenges in the classroom are as

> different and as complex as each individual child that falls on the

> vast autism spectrum. Because of this complexity several states in

> the nation have already recognized the need for and developed

> specialized education legislation offering families a choice in how

> they educate their special needs child. Ohio tops the list with

> their successful Autism Education Scholarship Program.

>

> Unfortunately today, Texas does not offer this education option to

> its citizens with autism and as a parent with a child with autism I

> would like to see autism scholarships brought to Texas. I believe it

> is time for our elected leaders to take a hard look into the current

> issues and struggles facing our families today. And while doing so,

> they should look into TexasÂ’s future to see what the long-term

> effects our current limited educational system will have on the

> families and communities of children with autism. Only then will our

> leaders begin to understand that this issue of school choice for

> students with autism is not about poor performing schools or

> inadequate teachers but simply about a subset of children with

> complex educational challenges who when provided with most

> appropriate educational opportunities available have shown to have

> tremendous potential and therefore can make a positive impact on the

> future of the Lone Star state.

>

> Thank you for serving in the Texas state legislature and for taking

> into consideration my view in favor of bringing education

> scholarships for students with autism to Texas.

>

> YOUR NAME

>

> YOUR ADDRESS

>

> YOUR PHONE NUMBER

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Question:

Are these the members of the committee that will be serving in the upcoming

(Spring 2007) legislative session? If not, the letters might fall on(somewhat)

deaf ears.

A. Weber

michellemguppy wrote:

Liz and everyone -- I have a " A Call to Action " page on the Texas

Autism

Advocacy website.

That is for anyone to post their Action Alert and sample letter to send,

etc.

That way parents can direct other parents to that page of the website and

not have to dig through archives to find the alert and sample letter....

Do you want to send me something at MGuppy@... to put on there

for you? Currently the page is blank. Just send exactly what you want

on there, and I'll put it on there.

Liz and Troy writes:

> Folks you are all doing great! I am getting letters to give to

> Senator Shapiro and others are sending their letters directly to all

> the individual Senators on the Public Education Committee. I am

> going to be a like a broken record on this issue until the interim

> Senate hearing on public school choice (Sept. 2006) is over so bear

> with me...

>

> Below is a sample letter that can be cut and pasted and sent to me

> ( tscillian@... )or it can be sent directly to the Senators

> on the Public education committee, whatever is easier for you. You

> can add/delete and make changes to the letter to fit your individual

> families needs and or issues.

>

> Happy advocating!

> liz

>

> Public Education Committee members-

> Chair:

> Senator Florence Shapiro

> Vice-Chair:

> Senator Royce West

> Members:

>

> Senator Kip Averitt

> Senator Janek

>

> Senator Steve Ogden

> Senator Todd Staples

>

> Senator Van de Putte

> Senator Tommy

>

> Senator Judith Zaffirini

>

> -------SAMPLE LETTER------

>

> DATE

>

> Senator

>

> Austin, TX

>

> RE: Autism Education Scholarships

>

> Honorable

>

> I am sure you are aware of the unique educational challenges each

> student with autism faces. These challenges in the classroom are as

> different and as complex as each individual child that falls on the

> vast autism spectrum. Because of this complexity several states in

> the nation have already recognized the need for and developed

> specialized education legislation offering families a choice in how

> they educate their special needs child. Ohio tops the list with

> their successful Autism Education Scholarship Program.

>

> Unfortunately today, Texas does not offer this education option to

> its citizens with autism and as a parent with a child with autism I

> would like to see autism scholarships brought to Texas. I believe it

> is time for our elected leaders to take a hard look into the current

> issues and struggles facing our families today. And while doing so,

> they should look into Texas’s future to see what the long-term

> effects our current limited educational system will have on the

> families and communities of children with autism. Only then will our

> leaders begin to understand that this issue of school choice for

> students with autism is not about poor performing schools or

> inadequate teachers but simply about a subset of children with

> complex educational challenges who when provided with most

> appropriate educational opportunities available have shown to have

> tremendous potential and therefore can make a positive impact on the

> future of the Lone Star state.

>

> Thank you for serving in the Texas state legislature and for taking

> into consideration my view in favor of bringing education

> scholarships for students with autism to Texas.

>

> YOUR NAME

>

> YOUR ADDRESS

>

> YOUR PHONE NUMBER

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sounds great! I will send it later today. Liz

[Guest guest]

Good point , we don't know who will be part of the 2007

committee members. However, you can probably bet Shapiro will remain

the Chair of public education and even though it is an election year

and she is up for re-election she will probably remain as Senator out

of Plano. The same holds true for the Vice Chair Royce West (D) out

of Dallas. These two run the show and guide their committee

members. Both Shapiro and West are highly respected in TX and

powerful members of the Legislature.

Advocating for scholarships has been going on for several years.

Some elected leaders who we had spent a lot of time with on this

issue and who were willing to step out on a limb for us lost in the

Primaries... We have had to do some back tracking and behind the

scenes looking for some new elected leaders who have promise in the

Legislature and who will (possibly) fill those vacated committee

positions. Luckily those folks have been found and are well groomed

on the issue.

So, the folks serving today who will be at the Senate interim hearing

today and who will start the dialogue and hopefully the legislation

need to hear from the folks of TX today. But in January when the

80th Legislative session starts there will be work to do once again.

I guess we all know that this is not going to come easy. We all have

children with autism, so we understand the concept of hard work and

repetition. Big smiles.

One thing folks also need to think about is the Governor's race. Ask

yourself, if a scholarship bill passes the House and the Senate and

it lands on the Governor's desk which one of the candidates will sign

it through and which one may veto the bill???? A very important

question...

Thanks for the question ! Hope to see you soon.

Liz