HOME | POLITICAL-LEGISLATIVE
|
TEACH-CUNY | LOBBY-YOUR-LEGISLATOR
Say you’re a constituent and you want
to express an opinion about the City University.
Ask if there is a particular staff person to whom you should speak.
Identify yourself more fully: Give your name and address; note that you are a registered
voter if you are. Below are the
general ideas for the Assembly and the State Senate, respectively. But add your own personal
testimony. That’s always the
most effective.
To members of the Assembly:
Thanks for supporting the budget
increase for CUNY, especially the full-time
lines. We know it's always hard to
make these choices and that there were many competing
demands. We do want to say that this
is a bare minimum given the
horrendous cuts --30% --over the last decade, and
we ask you to stand
firm in your negotiations with the Senate.
(Add your personal testimony.)
(Conclude with):
We hope that you personally will
take a strong public stand on this issue. We
look to you for leadership, not just support.
Please send me a specific response.
Thanks.
To State Senators:
Thank
you for the addition to the Community College budget, but we were disappointed
to find that there was no help beyond that.
As you know, the drastic
cuts of the last ten years--over 30%--and the loss of over 50%
of the full time staff while enrollments went up, make it essential that
we get substantial aid this year. New
York State was fiftieth out of the fifty states over the last decade in
increases in state aid to public higher education so there is a lot to make up
for.
The Assembly's plan is a bare minimum.
(Then
add your personal testimony.)
(Conclude
with):
We
hope that you personally will take a strong public stand on this issue.
We look to you for leadership, not just support.
Please send me a specific response.
Thanks.
___________________________________
In both cases, tell your own story and your students’ stories. Some possibilities are:
· the extent to which students can’t get the courses they need to graduate on time because courses simply aren’t offered.
· The extent to which faculty can’t do their jobs because there are half as many full time faculty as there used to be.
· The situation of our adjunct faculty—unpaid for office hours, woefully unpaid over all, deprived of essential benefits
· The state of the libraries
· The state of our physical facilities
· Support for research
· Support for graduate students