DEMAND EDUCATION REFORM- I DID, AND SO SHOULD YOU!!!

Hello to those out there in the internet! I have been exponentially appalled with our current education system and have just written my local congressperson to demand immediate reform. PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK TO FIND YOUR LOCAL CONGRESSPERSON AND WRITE YOUR FRUSTRATIONS!! (https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml) This is a democracy, we are a country who is run by the people, for the people, if we say NOTHING then NOTHING will happen! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SPREAD THE MESSAGE THAT WE NEED REFORM!!!!!!


My local congressperson is The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher, and this is what I wrote:

My name is Heather Wallace, I am a hardworking citizen of this country and just received my Bachelor's Degree from CSUF with the hopes of continuing my education to become a High School English teacher- however due to the current state of our Education system I am unsure of whether my dream will become a reality.
I am writing you today to voice my concerns about the direction of our FAILED Education system. Every election we as a people are promised that budget cuts from our Education budget will stop- however all we hear on the news is that there have been more budget cuts, that more teachers are being laid off, more after-school and elective classes are being cut, class sizes are increasing, and there seems to be no plan in place to put money back into our education system, our children, or our future. I AM APPALLED AT THE CURRENT STATE OF OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM AND DEMAND INSTANT REFORM. We are one of the wealthiest states in this union, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and there is absolutely no reason for our continued neglect! Our government seems to be happy to ignore the growing problems facing those on both sides of the issue- our teachers and our students- and we cannot afford to ignore this issue any longer!

Our teachers are in an ever growing state of need. They perform the most important job in this country- educating and guiding our youth, priming them to take the reins of our future- and yet they are continually assaulted by our government. They are forced to pay for school supplies out of pocket because they have no funding. They are forced to control an ever-increasing class size. They are forced to take pay cuts and see cuts in their benefits. And yet they are still expected to deliver quality test scores and kids who are excited to continue their education and to get involved in their schools and communities. But how can these teachers give the desired results when they are not given the proper tools? These individuals should be given ALL the tools and funding they require to inspire, educate, and teach these kids both course work and life lessons- and yet this task seems nearly impossible under the current circumstances. How can you teach (much less inspire) kids when your class has forty kids crammed together in a small space? This environment evokes distraction- THIS IS NOT A PRODUCTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. Even worse, this kind of environment is lessoning our teachers drive to reach students and thus slowly choking the quality of the education they are giving, and the ever-increasing pay-cuts and budget cuts do not inspire others to become teachers as it is such a volatile and unrewarding profession as it stands today.

Conversely, our students are even worse off. Every class is packed full- personal and individual attention from a teacher is almost impossible to come by because you are competing with so many other children. Interest in school is waning because after-school activities and elective classes such as choir, band, speech and debate, etc. are no longer available because there is simply no funding for them. As a result of decreased teacher/administrator attention and a lack of school related activities, more children are falling through the cracks.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. OUR CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE, HOW CAN WE BE WILLING TO ALLOW THE UNEDUCATED, UNMOTIVATED, AND UNDERWHELMED THAT IS OUR YOUTH TO INHERIT THE EARTH? They hold the keys to our future, they will mold it, build it, and navigate it- and yet we seem UNWILLING to give them the tools- even the choice- to do this.
America is in a critical stage right now, we are at a crossroads. We are no longer the America we used to be; war, internal struggles, a recession, and many other factors have taken the America we used to live in and have turned it into a shadow of its former self. If America is to once again regain its status as a leader in this world, as a leader in Education, WE NEED REFORM.

I myself have felt the pain of this failed Education system. I put myself through college but had to jump through several hoops to do so. Because of the state of the FAFSA requirement s I was unable to receive Federal help (my Mother and I are no longer on speaking terms, and yet her information is required in order to fill out the FAFSA- so I was unable to receive any Federal funding towards my education), and therefore had to work full-time in order to afford my education. On top of that, during my years at school, I was forced to swallow the costs of ever-increasing tuition, increased class sizes, decreased teacher availability, class cuts (both in times/days offered and some classes were cut from the schedule entirely), and other factors that made my overall experience both frustrating and less effective than it could have been because of the frustrations. My senior year (ending in December 2009) I was paying more for tuition, more for books, more for parking- and yet for all this, I received less offered classes, less teacher participation due to increased class sizes, less classes per semester due to forced furlough days, and yet was expected to take all of this without raising a fuss.

How in good conscious can this Union allow matters to continue as they are? Our Education system is flawed, it no longer works. Budget cuts are not the answer. We need to look at our spending and find a solution to put money back into the Education system. The strikes in Capistrano are indicative of the frustrations on both sides of this issue and unless this matter receives immediate attention both our youth, our education system, and our future will be lost.

Demanding immediate reform (and open to any and all conversations),

(here I included my name and ALL of my contact information: my address, my phone number, and my email address because I WANT THEM TO CALL ME, we want to be recognized as real people with real frustrations, and I encourage you to also put in all your information.)


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP MAKE OUR COUNTRY GREAT- THIS IS HOW A DEMOCRACY WORKS!!!!