In attendance: Barbara Griffin, Ruthie Fritts, Sue Coomer, Pam Madaio, Mary Fleck
Review the Mission of SIAN
Background: The Sea Islands Action Network was formed by a group of citizens who were motivated to act in response to the election of Donald Trump. Now numbering over 200 members, we are inspired by Indivisible, a nationwide network of groups guided by the following principles:
- We believe Trump’s agenda is racist, authoritarian, and corrupt, and it must be stopped.
- We demand that our own local Members of Congress serve as our voice in Washington, DC.
- We model inclusion, respect and fairness in all of our actions.
Mission: To provide a forum where concerned citizens can work together to oppose the Trump agenda and influence our elected representatives.
Develop the mission for the Education Committee
- What is our purpose?
- What are the issues we want to pursue?
- Which professional organizations are most relevant?
Based on our discussion we agreed on the following as our mission:
- Keep current with news related to education including through professional organizations (such as AASA, NEA, Network for Public Education, etc.)
- Identify actions of the Education Department and legislation related to education that require a call to action.
- Interact with other SIAN committees on issue that overlap (such as Voting Rights regarding voter education and Health Care regarding Medicaid)
- Engage in community education activities to inform others of the impact on education of decisions being made at the federal and state level.
Current issues of concern
- Federal Budget for FY2018 (ESSA Title II and IV, IDEA, etc.)
- Impact of Medicaid cuts on education and well-being of children
- Vouchers and privatization
- Federal school choice policy
- Loan forgiveness
Next steps
- Continue to share information and articles on relevant topics with each other (All)
- Contact the SIAN Health Care Committee to collaborate with them about the impact on Medicaid (Mary and Pam)
- Contact the SIAN Voting Rights Committee to offer to work with them on educating voters about how an election will impact education (Mary and Pam)
- Contact the SCEA to learn about their position on issues (Ruthie)
- Contact Dr. Postelwaite (Superintendent of Charleston Public Schools) to get her point of view on how the Trump agenda will impact her schools (Barbara)
- Convene another meeting at the end of the summer, or sooner if circumstance warrants.
SIAN Contact: Mary Fleck
SIAN email: seaislandsactionnetwork@gmail.com
