One more call to make to preserve the Early Literacy Intervention Initiative

The Education Committee preserved funding for early literacy, but there’s still one call to make.

We have good news. Last month, we asked you to call the City Council’s Education Committee, urging them to protect funding for the Early Literacy Intervention Initiative. We are thrilled to share that the Education Committee has restored the $1.6 million of funding in the FY18 budget as a recurring annual line item.

The Education Committee’s offices said they received many calls about this issue, and we want to thank you for advocating for early literacy!

We need your help one more time before the full City Council votes on the budget on May 30.

If you are a DC resident, please take a minute to call your Ward representative to let them know you support the Education Committee’s budget markup. If you have a few extra minutes, please also call the At-Large representatives and Chairman Mendelson.

We have provided their numbers and a short script below. You can look up your Ward here: https://dcatlas.dcgis.dc.gov/mar/

Ward Representatives:

• Ward 1: Brianne Nadeau: (202) 724-8181
• Ward 2: Jack Evans: (202) 724-8058
• Ward 3: Mary Cheh: (202) 724-8062
• Ward 4: Brandon Todd: (202) 724-8052
• Ward 5: Kenyan McDuffie: (202) 724-8028
• Ward 6: Charles Allen: (202)-724-8072
• Ward 7: Vincent Gray: (202) 724-8068
• Ward 8: Trayon White: (202) 724-8045

At-Large Representatives:

(Note: if you have time to call the At-Large representatives, please prioritize Chairman Mendelson and Councilmember Silverman as Councilmembers Bonds, Grosso, and White are on the Education Committee.)

• Chairman Phil Mendelson: (202) 724-8032
• Elissa Silverman: (202)-724-7772
• Anita Bonds: (202) 724-8064
• David Grosso: (202) 724-8105
• Robert White: (202) 724-8174

Script:

Hello. My name is _______ . I live in Ward ___ and I am calling to let Council member _______ know that I support the Education Committee’s markup of the FY18 budget, which protects funding for the Early Literacy Intervention Initiative.

[IF APPLICABLE: I volunteer as a reading partner at [school] and I tutor a student once a week.]

Reading Partners is serving nearly 1,000 students at 20 DC public and charter schools this school year and receives nearly 15 percent of their funding from the Early Literacy Intervention Initiative. Keeping this funding in the budget helps ensure that hundreds of elementary school students in DC can continue to receive the evidence-based literacy interventions they need to succeed in school and in life. Thank you for your time.