Patty here, friend – and this time, it's personal.

I got my degree in physical education from a public university, Washington State University (go Cougs!). Then, I taught preschool, worked at a community college, and later served on my local school board. 

All of these are the very same public schools and systems from which Education Secretary Linda McMahon has unlawfully withheld taxpayer dollars since taking over the Department of Education.

I only entered politics after state officials tried to close my children's preschool program due to budget cuts. After I drove 100 miles to Olympia with my two young kids in tow to speak out against them, a male lawmaker said my voice didn't matter since I was “just a mom in tennis shoes." 

I knew then that if I wanted to make a change, I'd have to lace up those tennis shoes and fight back. That's when I organized a grassroots coalition of 13,000 other parents and community members to save that preschool program. We won.

So if McMahon gets the much deeper cuts she asked of the Senate Appropriations Committee in her hearing last week, the entire tab for public schools and universities will be left to the already overburdened state and local budgets.

I tell you this now, because when I asked if any analysis on how the agency would be able to perform its basic obligations under the law had been done before or after she summarily fired HALF its staff, her answer was "No."

Between that, the cuts, and her cluelessness as to what's happening in the Department on her watch, Trump might as well have picked someone wearing a blindfold to take a chainsaw to public education.

But I'm standing up for public edcuation. So now, friend, I need YOU to lace up your shoes and join the fight with me.

I've set an emergency goal to build another 13,000-strong coalition of grassroots supporters by 11:59 p.m. tonight – but this time, it's to help show the grassroots is determined to STOP Trump's administration from giving billionaires like McMahon and Musk even more tax breaks while the next generation pays the price.

Will you please help me build the critical people-powered momentum we need to show Republicans we MUST save our kids' public schools by being the first person to chip in $5, $13, or any amount at all today?

Thank you for reading and for everything you do.

Patty