"I received the following email from the Rochester Business Alliance today wanting me to contact my state legislature representatives to support this bill. ... MoreI think this is detrimental to the state and am contacting my representatives to vote against it. A Message from Sandy Parker: Tell Your Legislators to Support Race to the Top Jan. 18, 2010 Dear Rochester Business Alliance Member: New York state will miss out on up to $700 million in federal stimulus funding for schools unless the New York State Legislature acts to change some laws at its next session on Tuesday. The grant, known as "Race to the Top," is designed to support innovative efforts by states to improve education outcomes. But the federal government has made it very clear that it's unlikely NYS will receive any funding if the state does not change current laws including a cap on the number of charter schools and a prohibition against using student performance data in teacher evaluations. Gov. Paterson has introduced a program bill that will institute these changes, which must be passed before the application deadline, Tuesday, Jan. 19. The California legislature recently passed similar reform measures to increase its chances for funding. Rochester Business Alliance supports New York's application for Race to the Top funding and Governor Paterson's program bill, and is urging you to take a moment and send a message to our legislative leaders in Albany and members of our local delegation. Click here to use our Voter Voice program to send the message. You will have a chance to see the letter that will be sent in your name and give it your final approval. And don't worry - your mailing address will NOT be used in any way other than to send this important letter to the representatives. For more information about this topic, click here. Thank you for your consideration. Sandra A. Parker President and CEO, Rochester Business Alliance "

"Dave, I have received this same type of response letter form Chucky in the past, on an entire array of subjects. He doesn't care what you or I think, he feels he is above the people of New York...."