Arizona Education Network asks people to email business execs to support education funding

by David Safier

The Arizona Education Network (AEN) notes that a letter to legislators from Arizona business executives was a primary reason five recent anti-immigrant bills were defeated. So why shouldn't CEOs who support education do the same to stop the cuts to K-12 schools and higher ed?

AEN has made it easy for you to help. It has created a list of 60 businesses to contact, complete with emails. You can even download a template letter to use or refer to for ideas. Originality and style aren't important here. The point is to give the CEOs the push they need to exert the same kind of influence on the future of education they demonstrated in saving Arizona from ever worsening immigration legislation.

From AEN:

It was made clear last week that they are listening to business leaders in the state.

When 60 CEOs asked legislators to back down on pushing through more bills targeting immigrants, the legislators listened.  All five anti-immigration bills pending in the Senate failed.

In a letter to legislators, the executives argued that Arizona’s anti-immigration stance was hurting the state’s economy by causing a downturn in tourism (with losses up to $150 million statewide) and canceled contracts due to boycotts.

It’s time now to ask these same business leaders to stick up for education funding, which has an even stronger link to the state’s economy.

Our state needs strong schools, colleges and universities to create an educated workforce, to attract well-paying jobs, to keep property values from dropping further and to protect our military bases, which have warned they are at risk of closure if the state continues to de-fund education.

While we can’t in good faith ask you to continue contacting legislators who are not listening, we will ask you to contact business leaders who have paid legislative lobbyists and have much more sway with this crop of lawmakers.

We have created a document titled Arizona CEOs Contact List.  If you click the link, copy their addresses and insert them into your email form, you can quickly send one email to all these business leaders.

NOTE: AEN has this phrase on its website header: "Public Education Keeps The American Dream Alive." You can't say it any better than that.