TAG Summer Updates
Monday, June 2, 2008
UVM STAND MONTHLY
SUMMER TAG UPDATE (2)
ATTENTION: UVM STAND MEMBERS
Hey y’all, I hope all of your summers are in full swing and you are being productive with yourselves. We have a lot to talk about given that Vermont TAG is now on the map and building a full head of steam. Word is getting around about our “little project”, and people are becoming interested.
Today I spoke with Michelle Farley, Policy Director of the TAG National Campaign. Michelle will serve as a great contact on the national level, as she is well immersed in the world of TAG. She is currently researching the Vermont Board of Education, writing up a detailed document that will give us critical information as to how best to approach them. She is also working on a strategic plan for our state that will provide an outline for our campaign, giving us an idea as to how we should approach each step of the process.
Sadly, our closest contact with the TAG National Campaign will soon be leaving us. As a couple of you already know, our good friend Greg Kuo (Director of the Connecticut TAG Campaign) will be enlisting in the military at the end of July. Most likely taking over his position on the national level will be a woman by the name of Patrice Hutton. Before heading off to basic training, Greg has already begun work on a Vermont TAG Website which will be comprised of all our goals, plans and updates. It will be a great resource for gaining publicity and raising awareness all over the state. He hopes to have it up by July 1st.
In local news, we have built a great platform from which to launch our campaign. Once we return from break, STAND members will be placed into separate committees, helping to maximize production by distributing our manpower. While committee positions are not set, there are four positions which I see as being essential to our success:
1) Director
2) “Rally the School Boards” (RSB) Director
3) Head of Grassroots Organizing
4) Media Coordinator
While positions 1, 3, and 4 are fairly self explanatory, I believe position #2 requires a brief explanation. As I have proceeded in my research and understanding of the campaign (on both a national and a local level), it has become evident that we must fight this battle on multiple fronts. While our ultimate objective is to pass a mandate at the state level, we must also be working with individual school boards at the same time, urging them to take this initiative voluntarily. Using our relatively large team, I believe this is a great way to utilize our numbers. Therefore, the RSB Director will be the head coordinator/contact for this project.
At this point, I have created strong student/teacher contacts at Brattleboro, Bennington, Burlington, South Burlington, CVU, Essex, and Mount Mansfield High Schools. There are petitions and surveys being completed all across the state, but still the grassroots needs to grow. One of my largest tasks right now is securing permanent contacts at all of my 10 Target Schools (see update 1). My goal is to have created reliable sources at each of these schools by the end of June. Helping me to accomplish this goal will be Lindsey Rorden and Alyssa Quinlan; as Assistant Directors over the summer, they will be very important in the beginning stages of this campaign.
As for early successes, we have had several. Perhaps the most exciting thing which has happened thus far is that Human Rights activist John Prendergast has written a statement publicly supporting the Vermont TAG campaign. Through a barrage of e-mails and runarounds, I was able to get in contact with John, informing him about the campaign and briefly outlining what it was we hoped to accomplish. He was extremely supportive and willing to lend his help at the drop of a dime. While this will not directly help to pass a bill, it is the first step of many in building a league of supporters. At some time in the future, I suggest that we ask Senator Dallaire to do this as well.
I have met with several educators and state officials already, each one sending a similar message, “this is great that you are doing this, we will give you any support you need, just be ready to deal with a lot of frustration in the months to come.” As far as support, we are receiving even more than I expected at this point. On May 22nd, I visited South Burlington High School to meet with Principle Patrick Burke. Patrick will be one of our closest allies in Vermont, as he already teaches a course specifically on Darfur. He had many great ideas, one of which was creating a Governors Institute on Genocide Education in Vermont (Google: Vermont Governors Institutes). He also offered to help in the writing of the legislation, and wanted to accompany us on a lobby day to the state capital. He referred me to a fellow SB teacher and friend named Rich Wise, who is Vice Chair of the VT NEA.
NEA stands for National Educators Association, and the Vermont NEA is composed of 11,500 teachers. Burke believes Rich Wise will soon be elected the head of the VT NEA, therefore we would have an ally with enormous pull among VT educators. I have already scheduled a meeting with Rich for later in the month.
On the state level, I have met with Rep. Botzow, Rep. Pearson, Rep. McCullough, Sen. McCormack, and Rep. Branagan. All have been extremely helpful and supportive, providing a vast array of knowledge and information from both a political and personal point of view. I am excited to say that Chris Pearson of Burlington (Progressive) and Carolyn Branagan of Georgia (Republican), have taken a particular interest in TAG, agreeing to be Lead Sponsors of our bill.
In the upcoming weeks and months, Lindsey, Alyssa, and I will be attending several other meetings involving state officials and educators. At present, I have lined up the following meetings:
-Wed. June 3rd Rep. Lenes (in Shelburne)
-Thurs. June 4th Rep. Smith (in Burlington)
-Thurs. June 4th Rep. Larson (in Burlington)
-Wed. June 11th Rep. Minter (in Waterbury)
-Wed. June 11th Rep Lorber (in Burlington)
-Wed. June 18th Sen. Ayer (in Vergennes)
-Wed. June 25th Rep. Mrowicki (in Putney)
-Tues. July 21st Rep. Symington-speaker of the house (in Montpelier)
-Tues. July 29th Rep. Obuchowski (in Montpelier)
*More meetings will be scheduled as we compile more information and as time allows
On a more personal note, I was able to get op-eds published in two of the three most prolific Vermont newspapers (The Rutland Herald and Addison County Tribune). Letter writing campaigns and Call-In days are crucial components to the TAG campaign, and will be held regularly throughout the semester.
Simply to satisfy your curiosity and never-ending quest for information, here is a tentative outline for our Bill...
November: FIND BILL SPONSOR
December: FINALIZE BILL LANGUAGE
January: INTRODUCE BILL
February: PASS JOINT EDUCATION COMMITTEE
March: PASS JOINT APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE
April: PASS HOUSE-PASS SENATE
In closing, I want to let everyone know how extremely excited I am for the upcoming school year. I believe that we have an opportunity to be a part of something really special here, creating a legacy for our children and grandchildren. I hope that you are all looking forward to jumping on the TAG express, because the train has departed the station and we are chugging along. Final destination….Montpelier!
Respectfully Yours,
Christopher J. Fries
