Dear Friends,

Hello, and welcome to my e-newsletter. I would like to take this moment to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve you in House District 95 and to act as your voice in the Capitol. In this issue, I will provide you with updates on:

  • OK2Say
  • March is Reading Month

As your representative, I am most effective at my job when acting on your input, and I encourage you to reach out to me and my staff with any questions, comments or concerns you may have about issues in the district, or legislation that will impact our state. You can contact me toll-free at (855) 347-8095, by email at vanessaguerra@house.mi.gov or through my website, guerra.housedems.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and thank you for your commitment to the community we both call home.

I was disappointed to see a School Aid Budget pass out of the House Appropriations School Aid and Department of Education Subcommittee that represented a significant departure from the governor’s recommendations. The House subcommittee made reductions in areas I believe are vital to the success of our schools as they struggle to keep up with the educational demands of the modern era, and the funding gap between what they receive and what they need grows larger.

Major changes by the House subcommittee to the executive recommendations on the School Aid Budget include:

  • Removing a proposed $50 per-pupil funding increase for high school students
  • Stripping $3 million from the budget to remove Partnership Model Districts, which represent an opportunity for MDE to partner with districts in need of intervention in order to improve performance

OK2Say

OK2Say allows anyone to confidentially report tips on criminal activities or potential harm directed at Michigan students, employees or schools. Tips can be submitted 24/7 by text, phone, email or using the OK2Say app. For more information, please visit http://www.michigan.gov/ok2say.

Last month, I was proud to help our local area schools participate in March is Reading Month by reading to more than 1,000 kids. I had the opportunity to read to students in all four of the school districts I represent, and was able to bring toothbrushes, coloring books and books to give away.

Sincerely,

State Representative Vanessa Guerra
95th House District

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