April 26, 2004
We need to take a position, as a Council, on the 4 resolutions that will be debated at the California State PTA Convention May 3rd-May 6th. Jamie Hintzke and I will be representing Council and will vote according to your directions. To see the complete text of the resolutions, go to www.capta.org/sections/tools/whatsnew.cfm?whatsnewID=133
The following is a brief overview of the four resolutions:
This is the resolution that our Council submitted. We are asking that the State PTA urge units, councils and districts to inform students, parents and communities about the prevalence of food allergies & ways in which the dangers to food allergic students can be minimized. We are also encouraging schools and/or school districts to develop policies regarding the management of life-threatening food allergies, which include the components of information and awareness; avoidance; and emergency response. Finally, schools are encouraged to keep epinephrine on hand and to train multiple staff members to recognize the signs of anaphylaxis and to administer epinephrine.
Addresses issues of childhood health & obesity through nutrition and physical activity. Asks:
·
Improve the nutritional content of foods & beverages
provided or sold to students and to support the sale of only nutritious foods
& beverages during and before school hours
·
High quality daily physical education for all children
K-12
·
Support nutrition & health education for parents,
students, teachers & community members
·
Encourage development of fundraisers that do not
involve selling low-nutrition, high fat and/or highly sweetened food &
beverages
Suggests that the current pupil transportation funding formula has not changed substantially in 25 years and is outdated and results in under funding to districts for transportation expenses. Asks for support of legislation “…that provides more equitable funding for home to school transportation”.
Asks that PTA units, councils and districts promote efforts to
· Determine youth involvement opportunities and link those opportunities to local government, school and state programs that promote civic and community service
· Encourage individual members of legislative bodies, at all levels of government, to include youth in their policy making efforts
· Ensure that meaningful opportunities exist for including youth in planning and implementation efforts in schools and community programs
Other Legislative Issues:
Video games are becoming increasingly graphic and extremely violent. Two bills have been introduced by Assembly member Leland Yee to regulate the most violent of them, keeping them out of the sight and access of children, and helping parents to understand more fully the content of the games they may purchase for their children. CAPTA supports AB 1792 and AB 1793, as they believe that these bills approach the problem in a reasoned manner, regulating the way these adult-rated games are displayed in stores, and keeping them from being sold to children. They also provide tools to parents to facilitate their understanding of the content of the games by requiring retailers to display signs in their stores explaining video game ratings to customers.
These 2 bills failed first passage in the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee but are scheduled for 2nd hearing on April 27th. None of the members of the committee are our local representatives but I could fax a letter of support, if Pleasanton PTA Council wishes to do so, to the chair of the Committee, Assembly Member Ed Chavez at 916-319-2157. If anyone wishes to pursue this further, please let me know and I will be happy to provide you with the names of the members of the committee as well as their phone, fax and/or email addresses.
CAPTA is joining with other student service organizations to call on its members to attend a rally at the State Capitol tomorrow: Tuesday, April 27th at 12:00 noon on the steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento. President of CAPTA will speak. Issues include California’s severe under funding of counselors, school librarians, school nurses and other student support services.
The April 2004 California State PTA SMARTS online newsletter is now available at www.capta.org. This issue addresses:
· Advocacy for the arts
· Letter writing campaign in support of funding for CDE Arts Works Grants
· Taking Charge: being an effective advocate for arts education
· 2004 Congressional Arts Handbook is now available online
If you would like to receive the SMARTS online newsletter directly, you may subscribe by sending an email to SMARTSnews@capta.org and typing Subscribe in the subject area.
Another source for information is the California Alliance for Arts Education at www.artsed411.org