This is a note sent from Liz Crane, president of the Clay County Education Association, the negotiating arm for the Clay County teachers:

 Liz Crane and Lea Rhoden made the trek to Tallahassee yesterday with three bins of pennies. Thank you to the schools that participated and donated pennies. 

The display of pennies were originally to be placed on the Capitol steps however there was a ’concern’ that the weight of the pennies would be too much and the display was moved to a near by park. Needless to say the weight of the rally supporters was higher than the weight of the pennies. Perhaps the concern was the statement the pennies would make on the Capitol steps and not the weight. 

After dropping off our pennies we joined approximately 1,000 supporters of education. We saw teachers, support staff, parents, children, school board members, and a few legislators rallying on the Capitol Steps. We rallied until about noon. After lunch Lea and I went to visit all of our legislators. We dropped off flyers for our CCEA Make Our Schools A Priority Rally and encouraged them to attend. 

We were able to spend a few minutes with Rep. Bill Proctor who educated us in taxation and the lack of support to raise taxes for education — HB 731 — The Penny Sales Tax Bill. The feeling is to not raise taxes and he was not in support of the bill. We left his office only to be greeted by our own school board members, Charlie Van Zant and Frank Farrell who were waiting to speak with Rep. Proctor.

Clay County Hits National News! 

While we were making our rounds through the Capitol, Lea and I were interview by Associated Press Reporter Bill Kaczor. He asked us questions about the Penny Sales Tax Bill and why we thought it was imperative that the bill pass for education funding. 

Click below for the article: This article was sent across the wires– exciting news for Clay County. To read the story, click here: The USA Today.

REMINDER

Attend the Chill ‘N Chat from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 20, at WhiteysFish Camp on County Road 220. Come relax and meet CCEA President Liz Crane. She will be there to answer questions about the budget crisis and the contract.