When our children in Texas public schools can be accused, found guilty, ticketed, often times arrested, and removed from school before parents are notified, there is something intrinsically wrong with a system that claims to work in partnership with parents for the education and well being of their children. If such a system does not have a true appeals process that makes the elected school board members review the implementation of their policies, there is something wrong with this system. If school district police can take action out of the sight of the taxpayers and without any review of their actions, there is something terribly wrong with this system.
I am writing to make you aware that as parents and guardians of children that attend public schools, we have no rights when our children are accused of a wrongdoing, whether innocent or guilty. When we have confronted our school administrators about these problems, they have said their hands are tied by the state legislature, which is not true. When we’ve tried to talk to our school boards, they have ignored our pleas. And so, I turn to you to help us with reforming this system.
On January 28, 2005 the Texas Summit on Student Disciplinary Action will be held at the Texas State Capital, Legislative Conference Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This summit will bring together parents and state legislators to discuss the problems with the current state laws, primarily Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code, and begin to reform these laws. I urge you to attend. Many people from our organization will be there and will see who attended and who did not.
I urge you to visit the website, www.KatyZeroTolerance.com to read the stories of children and parents that have been abused by this current system. We want you to learn why changes are needed and why you must take action now. Everyday, another child is falsely accused of a discipline code violation and is led away by district police. Everyday, children around the state have court appearances because they defended themselves from an unprovoked attack; because they may have uttered a curse word to friends that was overheard; because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time; because they are simply being kids.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to seeing you at the Texas Summit on January 28th.
As said, we don’t want to put words in your mouth. A letter in your own words is much more effective. However, we know you’re extremely busy and may not have the time to write an original letter. So, the below letter can serve as inspiration or it can be what you want to say. If so, simply highlight the below letter and paste it in the box in the email form when you write to your representative.
