Come one, come all — our Philadelphia town hall meeting will be at Cardinal O’Hara High School in Delaware County. And we need YOU to be there.

Date:  Thursday, April 15, 2010

Time:  3:30pm – 4:30pm

Location:  Cardinal O’Hara High School (Delaware County)

Street:  1701 South Sproul Road  Springfield, PA 19064

Driving Directions

Please join us for a town hall meeting about Operation Restore in Erie.

We need everyone’s help to restore funding to the EITC Program in the 2010-2011 budget. At this meeting, we give you the tools you need in order to make your voice heard!

Date:  Monday, April 12, 2010

Time:  9:30am – 10:30am

Location:  Dicoese of Erie

Street:  429 East Grandview Blvd.

City/Town:  Erie, PA

Driving Directions

We’ve uploaded new videos from EITC advocates to the REACH Alliance Channel on YouTube — from State Senators, PA families, scholarship organizations, educational improvement organizations, private schools and participating businesses. Check them out today!

We have created two images for placement on your website to help drive traffic to our Legislative contact site.  You may find them under “How to Help” or below:

You can copy the image by right-clicking and “Save image as.”

Our Town Hall meetings have been scheduled in areas around the state.  Final times and locations are still yet to be determined, but we will fill you in as soon as they are confirmed.  They are as follows:

• Erie:  April 12  (AM)
• Pittsburgh:  April 13 (AM)
• Philadelphia:  April 15 (two sessions)
• Allentown:  April 16 (AM)
• Harrisburg:  April 19 (AM)

We will be sending a postcard with more information shortly.

Today, Operation Restore launched at the REACH Advisory Board Meeting in Harrisburg.  50 leaders from Scholarship Organizations (SOs), Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Organizations (PKSOs), and Educational Improvement Organizations (EIOs) gathered to learn the latest news and developments in the EITC program, and naturally, the campaign to restore funding for EITC was on the group’s agenda!

Our parent organization, REACH Alliance,  will hold a celebration recognizing the 9th Birthday of the EITC program on Tuesday, May 4.  Thousands of schoolchildren gather at the Capitol for this exciting day of celebrating school choice.

The Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program is an educational program that helps kids get the chance to attend the school that’s right for them and provides enhanced opportunities for kids in public schools.

This year, the EITC is targeted again for a $10 million budget cut — on top of last year’s $15 million reduction.  At the same time, Gov. Rendell is proposing a $354 million increase in basic education funding.

Many in the Legislature have called the EITC program the best educational initiative passed in Pennsylvania in the past 15 years. Why should we cut a program that works for our children and saves the state money?

We support a restoration of EITC funding to $75 million – and we need your help – whether it’s contacting your legislators, writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, or even spreading the word electronically or in person, we appreciate any and all attention you can help drive to this cause.

We will use this space to share the latest news regarding Operation Restore and full education tax credit funding.