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Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education
May
1, 2007
To
Members of the Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education
and
others in CT who care about preparing the next generation of parents:
The
Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education and Prepare
Tomorrow's Parents (PTP) NEED you now to help us with this year's
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month campaign in Connecticut.
The coalition is being aided by Prepare
Tomorrow's Parents, a nonprofit national organization
dedicated, as we are, to promoting and facilitating child development/
parenting education for all children and teens in schools and youth
programs. Our purpose is to prepare all young people for the most
important job most of them will hold - raising the next generation
of children. I serve as a member of the board of directors for PTP.
Now in its 6th year, PTP Month is an annual public education campaign
from Mother's Day to Father's Day. For this campaign, PTP develops
and distributes materials for educators and advocates throughout
the U.S. to promote parenting education for children and teens.
I
am asking each of you as soon as possible to send a letter or email
to the following:
Governor
Jodi Rell's address is: 210 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106; email:
governor.rell@ct.gov.
Dr. Mark McQuillan's address is: Commissioner of Education Mark
McQuillan, 165 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106; email: mark.mcquillan@ct.gov.
Dr. McQuillan will take office as commissioner on April 16.
The
Education Committee's address is Education Committee, Legislative
Office Building Hartford, CT 06106. The names and email addresses
of the Education Committee leaders are as follows: Senator Thomas
Gaffey, co-chairman, gaffey@senatedems.ct.gov; Andrew Fleischman,
co-chairman, andrew.fleischman@cga.ct.gov; Sen. John Sonsora, vice-chairman,
john.sonsora@cga.ct.gov; Rep. Henry Genga, vice-chairman, Henry.Genga@cga.ct.gov;
Sen. Thomas Hurlihy, ranking member, thomas.hurlihy@cga.ct.gov;
Rep. Debralee Hovey, ranking member, debralee.hovey@cga.ct.gov.
Please
also send your letter to at least some of the other Education Committee
members, especially if they represent your district. The email address
is the same for all: first name.lastname@cga.ct.gov. Other Education
Committee members are: Sen. Bill Finch, Sen. Andrew McDonald, Rep.
Jason Bartlett, Rep Antonietta boucher, Rep. Ron Burns, Rep Bess
Bye, Rep. Pal Davis; Rep. Kim Fawcett; Rep Art Feltman; Rep Gail
Hamm, Rep. Debra Heinrich, Rep Karen Jaromoc; Rep. Robert Keeley,
Rep Themis Klarides, Rep Deavid Laborla, Rep. Douglas McClory, Rep.
Steven Mikutel, Rep Sanday Nofis, Rep. Tim O'Brien, Rep. Felipe
Reinoso, Rep. Tom Reynolds, Rep. Annie Ruwet, Rep. Pamela Sawyer,
Rep. Linda Schofield, Rep. Jim Shapiro, Rep. Kevin Witkos.
It
is very important this year for people to write to or email the
members of the legislature's Education Committee, especially the
chairmen and ranking members. They are the ones who have been blocking,
or not even raising the proposed child development/ parenting bills
the coalition has submitted, including a bill submitted this year.
If you have email, you can write just one letter, or copy the one
provided, then copy the email addresses given and send the letter
to all the committee members. It should take only a few minutes.
We would also like you to resend your letter to the Education Committee
in December, just before the start of the next legislative session.
If
you write your own letters explain why it is essential that education
in child safety, child development and parenting skills be taught
to all children in the CT schools. If you prefer not to write your
own letters, you can visit the special CT
PTP Month section of the Prepare Tomorrow's
Parents website for sample letters, and you will also
find helpful material to use if you compose your own letter. You
can copy and paste any of these into your own email and just send
them, or print and mail them out. When you write to your friends
ask them to do the same thing (and enclose the list of reasons)
so that we can get a letter tree going. It is important that as
many people as possible take the time to do this, so together we
can have a real impact.
If you want your letter or op ed in the newspaper published on Mother's
Day or Father's Day, get it in ahead and ask that it be run then,
if possible.
Many
additional resources including downloadable poster, reading list
and bookmark, sample letters, press releases and op-eds may be found
on the National
PTP Month section of Prepare
Tomorrow's Parents website.
We
would appreciate it if you would call or email
me and/or PTP
when you send your letters, so we can keep track of them, and send
us copies of articles published to us.
Parenting
is the most important job most of us do in our lifetime, yet most
people get no training for it. It's time they did! If we all work
together, we can make a difference in the lives of children and
in the quality of our society.
Joan
Barbuto, Coordinator
Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education
136 Ridgeland Circle, Wallingford, CT 06492
joanbstone@aol.com
Phone: 203/269-1946
The
Connecticut Coalition for Child Development Education, formerly
the Connecticut Coalition for Parenting Education is comprised of
approximately 40 people and organizations dedicated to bringing
education in child safety, child development and parenting skills
to all Connecticut students sometime before they graduate from high
school. Members include Yale psychology professor Edward Zigler,
who helped launch Head Start, Yale child psychiatrists Kyle Pruett
and James Comer, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families,
the Mental Health Association of Connecticut; the Connecticut Child
Advocate, pediatricians, psychologists, social workers, parents,
and other state residents.
Nine years of coalition experience with the legislature and Commissioners
of Education indicate the need for a groundswell of public support
to bring about action. For more information and to get involved,
contact Joan Barbuto, Coordinator of the Coalition, at joanbstone@aol.com
or 203/269-1946.
Return
to the Connecticut Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month Index Page
Return
to Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month Index Page
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