Next drawing: March 31, 2009
http://www.studentloannetwork.com/10K/index.php?sp=Financialaidpodcast@gmail.com




If you live in DC and support charter schools, please read on. When you make the phone calls, you’re basically leaving a voice message, so don’t be nervous about calling.
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We need your help in having your trustees, parents and allies contact key city officials to let them know we don’t support cuts to the facilities allowance. Attached is a flyer you can share with your school communities to help us get the word out. And with the wonders of technology, and some help from our friends at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, you can now click on this link to send a customizable email message to the city officials working on the city budget.

THE REQUEST

Please help by calling or emailing one or all of the following individuals before Friday the 13th to state your support for maintaining the facilities allowance at its current level of $3,109 per student. You don’t have to engage in any conversation; it should just take one minute each to make the statement, say thank you, and hang up or to click on the link, customize your message, and hit send.

1. Dan Tangherlini, City Administrator, 202 727-4036, dan.tangherlini@dc.gov or dan DOT tangherlini AT dc DOT gov
2. William Singer, Chief of Budget Execution, 202 478-9200, william.singer@dc.gov or william DOT singer AT dc DOT gov
3. Victor Reinoso, Deputy Mayor for Education, 202 727-3636, victor.reinoso@dc.gov or victor DOT reinoso AT dc DOT gov

Paste the web address below in your email browser to send a customizable email message to these officials:
http://tinyurl.com/b7g7er

Thanks for your support and my apologies if you have received this message already.

BACKGROUND
The public charter school facilities allowance is similar to the DC Public Schools capital budget and it’s purpose is to allow schools to access and modernize school facilities. If you divide the whole DCPS capital budget by the number of students, then DCPS gets approximately $5,000 per student this year for facilities modernization and charter schools get $3109 per student. The facilities allowance covers not just rent/mortgage payments for public charter schools, but also:

Rainy Day Reserves. Schools have to put money away for unexpected expenses so when the boiler breaks or the roof needs to be replaced, these things can be addressed.

Lender Reserves. Lenders now require a certain percent of money in the bank in order for a school to get a loan. So on top of the loan payment, schools also need to have some % of the loan held in reserves.

Downpayment. In addition to rent payments, schools in temporary space have to be saving money for a downpayment on a permanent facility, at least 20%, probably higher in this market.
Renovation costs. Whether a school has a temporary or permanent site, in almost all cases, the school will have to make improvements to the building and those costs are on top of the rent/mortgage payment.

PHONE CALL SCRIPT (pick appropriate message)

Hello, may I speak to

Message 1 (Parent)
My name is ____ and I have _ child(ren) at ____ public charter school.
Our school needs a permanent building.

I am calling to request that the city not cut the charter school facilities allowance unless the city is going to give the charter schools closed DCPS buildings.

Charter schools are public schools too and all DC students deserve real school buildings.
Thank you.

Message 2 (Parent)
My name is ____ and I have _ child(ren) at ____ public charter school.
I am calling to request that the city not cut the charter school facilities allowance.

We need as much support as the DCPS schools need to get school buildings in shape for our kids.

Charter schools are public schools too and all DC students deserve appropriate school facilities.
Thank you.

Message 3 (PCS Staff/Trustee)
My name is ____ I work at/serve on the Board of ____ public charter school and I am a Ward _ resident.

I have heard in the news that the Mayor promised not to cut funds for DCPS as he prepares the City budget.

I am calling to request that the Mayor also promise to not cut any charter school funds, specifically the facilities allowance.
Charter schools are public schools too; make sure they are funded equitably.

Thank you.

Message 4 (DC Resident)
My name is ____ and I am a Ward _ resident.

I have heard in the news that the Mayor promised not to cut funds for DCPS as he prepares the City budget.

I am calling to request that the Mayor also promise to not cut any charter school funds, specifically the facilities allowance.
Charter schools are public schools too; make sure they are funded equitably.
Thank you.
———

Please call with any questions.

Thanks,
Ariana

–
Ariana Quiñones-Miranda
Deputy Director
Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) 1530 16th Street NW, Suite 104 Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202 387-0405
Fax: 202 667-3798
Cel: 202 903-4609
aquinones@focusdc.org
aquinones AT focusdc DOT org
http://www.focusdc.org

My response: I have two teenage girls and I used the same potty training method with both of them. When they hit around the 1 year and six months mark, I started putting them on their nice pretty potty’s all the time. I bought a colorful potty with book slots on the side of it and it also had a stick to put a roll of toilet paper on it and it had a flush button. Anyway, so I would let them sit on the pot all the time and I would make sure they had a book and a cuppie full of water (this made it fun for them). The most crucial step in all this was the fact I DID NOT USE PULL-UPS. The girls wore painties with training pants. YES, it was a lot of work and when I went out I had to carry a lot of extra clothing for them. But you know what? Little girls do not like being wet, so after a week of that wearing panties w/training pants; they realized going to the potty would relieve them of being wet and icky and the potty training job was complete.

During this winter hiatus, you can also read my main blog at http://www.digitalfangirl.com.

I know it’s still technically summer time, but now is a great time to start saving and starting a budget for holiday shopping. I know holiday shopping can be fun, but it’s not fun going into debt from holiday shopping and carrying over that debt into a new year. So, sit back and listen to show #17 and let’s make a plan to do some smart holiday budgeting, planning and shopping.

Grab Bag Items of the Week

BankRate

Amazon.com

Overstock.com

I hope your summer was wonderful. Ours started off wonderful, but kind of fell into the black hole. We (my oldest daughter and I) were hit by a drunk driver on July 29. It was a horrible accident and I sustained some pretty bad injuries (a broken hand and a 2+ inch laceration on my leg that resulted in 23 stitches), but thankfully my daughter did not walk away with anything similar to what I had. We are recovering and the healing is going well. We’re just thankful to be alive.

Here are a few photos of the damage:

I’m just getting back online and I still have to fix the RSS feed, which is how you all subscribe to the show. So be patient with me, I am trying to get that fixed ASAP.

Until September 7 - enjoy the rest of your summer and have a great first day back to school.

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In this show we talk about co-parenting. Ideally, when parents separate/divorce it would be nice if they could put aside their personal feelings towards one another and continue to both parent (co-parent) the child(ren). I believe in every case it’s possible (unless the other parent is a legitimate psycho and sometimes they are - no pun intended), but I’m speaking of sane parents - it’s possible to leave you personal feelings at the door and make the child(ren) the priority and co-parent if you want to.

Grab Bag Items of the Week:

This week I am featuring two articles that talk specifically about co-parenting; how to embrace the idea, how to get over you hurt and anger to effectively work with your ex to co-parent and ways to approach the topic of co-parenting with your ex.

Co-parenting After a Separation or Divorce

Effective Co-Parenting (there’s a part one and two)

WOW!! What a crazy school year this has been. I am more than happy to see it end. This has been the toughest year for me and the kids. It seemed like something was going on every second, but we made it through.

If you’ve been experiencing some rough parenting moments, let us know how you got through them. No one said parenting was easy, but my mama never told me it would be this hard—jeeeeezzzzz.

Grab Bag Item of the Week:

WISEBREAD

Wise Bread is a community of bloggers here to help you live large on a small budget. Despite what you may have heard, you don’t have to sacrifice your financial independence to enjoy life.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions–and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else–the small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

‘Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first–the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. ‘I’m glad you asked.

‘It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.’

I know every parent has been through the dreadful process of one of two things or maybe both. 1) getting a million phone calls from birthday party guests asking you what your kids wants for their birthday or 2) having to write out customized lists for your kids birthday or for Christmas. Well, Yvette Segal has created a service to take that burden off of us - Mykidsregistry.com.

In this show I interview founder of mykidsregistry.com, Yvette Segal and she tells us how she came up with the idea, how it works and how you and your kids can get involved.

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Today I interviewed Yvette Segal, founder of MyKidsRegistry.com. She is an amazing woman and this service she started is absolutely brilliant. Think bridal registry, but for kids. It’s about time - right?

This interview will be a part of show #13, so stay tuned for that. Until then, go over to www.mykidsregistry.com and sign up; I did.

Me and Jessica Moss are organizing the first Northern Virginia Girl Geek Dinner. This event is for ALL girl geeks in the MD/DC/VA tri-state area. We are an offshoot of the London Girl Geek Dinners, started by Sarah Blow. The aim of these get-togethers is to provide a welcoming atmosphere and a platform for learning in an informal environment, to make technology accessible and to be of interest to all age groups and all people, particularly women. It is an opportunity for like-minded ‘girls’ to talk about technology over food and drinks

We hope that every girl geek in the MD/DC/Va area will support this event. We just started planning this event. We are looking for a venue to hold the dinner and are also looking for sponsors.

Stay connected with us:

• follow us on twitter
• continue to visit our blog.
• visit our wiki to sign up for the dinner or to sign on to sponsor a dinner

Take a look at a video from the London Girl Geek Dinner