Attn. Michigan Teams: $2,000,000 FIRST Pledge Cancelled

[Brandon Martus]

I got this message today:

Brandon:
As each day passes I am learning more and more about the way the state operates. Since both the House and Senate removed the $2,000,000 grant, and they did not hold a place for it in the budget, our only hope of having all or a portion of it reinstated is to try to impress upon the leaders of the Appropriations Subcommittees for Education just how valuable this program is.

Our letters have made our mark on the legislators from our district. Now it is time for the appropriations leaders to hear all of us. Here is the email I just sent to the teams for the newest step:


MORE WORK TO BE DONE!

I got word yesterday that the people we really need to reach are the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for education. These are the people who can actually make the decision to restore it. Send your email to this string:

scotthummel@house.mi.gov, SenRJelinek@senate.michigan.gov,
SenACropsey@senate.michigan.gov, davidfarhat@house.mi.gov,
SenMSwitalski@senate.michigan.gov, SenNCassis@senate.michigan.gov,
andymeisner@house.mi.gov , gsalpfirst@gmail.com, glennsteil@house.mi.gov, franamos@house.mi.gov,

Here is their district info in case you'd like to call

Senate Appropriations K-12 School Aid & Education:

Ron Jelinek Benton Harbor, Three Oaks 517-373-6960
Alan Cropsey DeWitt 3 517-373-3760
Michael Switalski Sturgis 517-373-7315

House Appropriations School Aid & Dept of Education , Supplementals

Scott Hummel DeWitt- Clinton, Gratiot 517-373-1778
John Moolenar Midland, Saginaw 517-373-1791
David Farhat Muskegon,Ottawa 517-373-3436
Glen Steil Jr Kent 517-373-0840
Fran Amos Oakland 517-373-0615



Remember it is Sec 99(c) of the State School Aid budget we would like reinstated.

Please quickly pass this along to anyone and everyone you know that has heard of FIRST and knows what a fabulous program it is. Urge them to call or email right away!! The committee meets in just a few days. If you have already sent an email please resend it to the string above. It's not over til it's over.

Thanks to all of you. This is the power of FIRST at work!!!!
Gail

[Edward Debler]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

I got this message today:

Brandon:

For your information, Senator Switalski (Sterling Heights area) and Senator Cassis are already in our camp. In fact, I received an email (June 16th) from Senator Cassis, who is the Vice-chairperson of the Education Committee, and she stated that she be will deliberating with the House on this very issue.

I meet at least once per month with Senator Switalski (my district) and will again discuss this issue at our meeting on August 7th. He is definitely convinced of the value that FIRST has on promoting all the best qualities in high school students.

I don't realistically expect the legislature to find $2,000,000 (per year) for the FIRST program, even though it will pay back Michigan many times over but; I do believe that they will appropriate something much less than that, maybe $250,000 per year to promote the establishment of new teams. After all, this was the initial purpose of the Governor's goal. How many new teams can Michigan realistically establish each year? I think the legislature will fund ONLY new rookie teams for just the registration fee to their initial FIRST Regional. That is my opinion.

[KathieK]

This popped up in my Google alert tonight, "Michigan Governor signs budgets that increase funding for K-12, universities and community colleges
August 15, 2006 -- LANSING – Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today signed budgets that extend her commitment to investing in our public schools and making education beyond high school accessible and affordable to every student in Michigan. Granholm called the budgets a strong investment in education and the economy...
...Also included in the School Aid budget are $150,000 to expand opportunities for high school students to participate in FIRST Robotics Competitions and $2 million for a new health science middle college program that will allow high school students to earn a diploma and a college certificate or degree in health sciences." http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m...yid-15913.html

While this may not be the amount you had hoped for, it is still a step in the right direction. Congratulations!

[gail]

It is true. We are busy drafting the grant language which will be similar to NASA. It should be finished soon.

Please get the work out to all of the districts that might want to start new teams. Have them contact me at:
Gail.Alpert@ gmail.com

A HUGE THANK YOU to all that sent letters to your legislators. Our grass roots effort definitely helped.

[legotech25]

Although I'm not a Michigan FIRSTer, I support all of your efforts and admire your perseverance and enthusiasm. All of you are making a tremendous contribution in the efforts to make FIRST heard in our government. Thank you, and keep it up!!!

[Jack Jones]

FYI -

The grant process should be in place by next week. They will require an essay, similar to the NASA grant. Teams could apply for both with the same essays. There are 25 grants available at $6,000 for one year only at this point.

The grant covers only rookie teams. So, you MI veterans here on ChiefDelphi need to spread the word to schools without teams - I plan to contact Waterford tomorrow.

There's some kind of fund matching requirement, but as I gather, the match can be made with things of value other than cash, such as materials or mentor's man-hours. You should find that the man-hours alone, when accounted for, will exceed the requirement by at least a factor of ten.

Gail, I'm sure, will be filling in the details soon.

[milliga9]

I received info about the High School Robotics Grant yesterday. The application and scoring rubric is available at
http://www.michigan.gov/mde-grants under the "What's New" section.

It is primarily for new teams, but they do state that if there are not enough new teams that apply, they will begin to give grants to established teams.

The first application deadline is September 29th 2006!