Dear Families,

I hope everyone received our last alert and you have planned to come to Harrisburg on May 13!  Our "Day on the Hill" will be highlighted by a 1 p.m. press conference and rally at the Capitol fountain.

We anticipate having several other legislators speak and we will award our first-ever "Cyber Families Leadership Award."  Stay tuned for more details about our "Day on the Hill".

Equally important during this day will be your visits with your legislators.  Having just spent several days in Harrisburg, I can tell you, our lawmakers are extremely responsive when it comes to meeting their constituents.  We need all of you to set up appointments with the legislators from your district. It does not have to be a long meeting, but they need to know you are there to ensure cyber schools are funded appropriately and not jeopardized by anti-cyber school legislation such as HB446.

Bring your children and they will get a wonderful lesson in civics as they see democracy in action! I know I have said this many times, but this is the best way to make sure our schools stay open. Recently, cyber schools were nearly shut down completely in Wisconsin.  In spite of the great success of cyber schools, there remains considerable opposition from powerful special interest groups.  Public cyber schools are by no means safe in Pennsylvania.  HB446, has made its way to the House appropriations committee. We must do everything in our power to make sure it goes no further!

So please, make your plans today for May 13!  We have several links on the coalition website, www.pacyberfamilies.org  with contact information for each and every legislator in Harrisburg. Give them a call -- they will respond!

Fruitful meetings

Speaking of Harrisburg, I would like to thank all the representatives and their staff members for meeting with us. We were able to have good, productive discussions with about a dozen members of the House appropriations committee.  We believe more and more are getting a clearer picture of how public cyber schools work.  They are understanding why we believe they are the best chance for our children to receive a quality public education.

For those of you with representatives on the appropriations committee, it is critical for you to contact them!  Use the following link to get their contact information: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/representatives_sc.cfm#4

C-Y-B-E-R!

Congratulations to Agora 7th-grader, Mariam Sarkessian who came in second place in the Philadelphia Tribune/Scripps Howard Spelling bee!   The daylong competition was down to just two, when Mariam tripped on pasteurize and just missed out on winning a trip to the famous national spelling bee in on Washington. Way to go, Mariam! You'll get ‘em next year!

Stay energized ... and we will see you in Harrisburg!

Jenny Bradmon, president