Hi John,

As many celebrate Easter and Passover, two holidays marking the significance of major events in the Christian and Jewish faiths, we are approaching a potentially monumental moment for New York's students and public schools — State lawmakers are poised to vote for a budget that will finally include a 3 year commitment to fully fund the longer overdue Foundation Aid formula to our schools.

A budget is a moral document and we need our state leaders to pass a budget that moves New York in the direction of education justice. All children regardless of race, income and immigration status must have access to a quality public education in their neighborhood.  Our children and their futures depend the education investments we make today.

Show your support for a just budget by posting a photo with us today.   

Join us for the below social media action today!

On a piece of paper, write your answer to the below prompt:

#NotAPennyLess for __________

...and take a photo of yourself holding your sign. You can check out Maria's photo, below, as an example.

Then post your photo on your social media platform of choice and tag Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Use the sample tweets included at the bottom of this email for inspiration in your post. And don't forget to tag AQE_NY and use the #NotAPennyLess hashtag!

Sample Tweets

These sample tweets are formatted for Twitter, but you can copy these to post a comment on their Facebook or Instagram pages, too.

A budget is a moral document. We need @AndreaSCousins, @CarlHeastie & @NYGovCuomo to show moral leadership  & pass a final budget that includes #NotAPennyLess than the @NYSA_Majority & @NYSenDems proposals.  

NYers want @AndreaSCousins & @CarlHeastie to hold the line in negotiations this weekend and accept #NotAPennyLess for our students and communities when negotiating the NYS budget. We need a just recovery for ALL New Yorkers! 

.@AndreaSCousins @CarlHeastie, hold the line and tell @NYGovCuomo: people over profit. NYers need an enacted budget that raises $7B in new revenue and #NotAPennyLess. 

It’s time for @NYGovCuomo to accept that NYS has an obligation to fund public schools and provide students with a quality education. Budgets are moral documents and we need state leaders to show moral leadership for students and communities. #NotAPennyLess 

.@NYGovCuomo is standing in the way of Black and Brown students. We need @Carlheastie & @AndreaSCousins to hold the line and fight for full funding of our schools and raise $7B in new revenue. #NotAPennyLess 

The @NYSA_Majority & @NYSenDems proposed expanding pre-K across the state. Students, families, & educators are depending on @AndreaSCousins & @CarlHeastie to stand strong in negotiations so our youngest NYers are on the path to success #NotAPennyLess