The Policy Passed..Now What? Need more help from you for emails of support!

The Mayor Martin Chavez has 10 working days to sign this bill or veto it. Please email the Mayor of the City of Albuquerque in support of him passing this bill.

Email him at mayor@cabq.gov

or call (505) 768-3000

or you can even email the following people in his office:

Bruce Perlman, Chief Administrative Officer
bperlman@cabq.gov

Ed Adams, Chief Operations Officer
eadams@cabq.gov

Barry Bitzer, Chief of Staff
jbitzer@cabq.gov

Deborah James, Communications Officer
djames@cabq.gov

Here are some talking points so please feel free to use them or reword them or use your own words. I only ask that you be mindful of how you sound on the email or phone as we want to make sure he knows we are a LARGE group of intelligent parents (and grandparents) educating our children in the way we think is best!

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Please pass the policy making it easier for homeschoolers to have equal access to City of Albuquerque facilities and museums and the Biopark.

Our issue is with the Biopark policy that requires EACH homeschooling family to turn in a copy of their State registration form BEFORE a field trip or class can be scheduled. We went to be able to just fill out the same form as school groups..with contact information and the number of people attending. All members of the field trip would then be required to enter the Biopark together so that they can be accurately counted and the correct people entering can be given the special discount. All policies on cancellation, group size etc. that are stated on their admissions page for school groups would still apply. It is the act of turning the form for each family that is of issue.

There are over 10,000 homeschooling families in the State of New Mexico and we want to make it easier for those families that are on a limited budget or those visiting from other parts of New Mexico to be able to take a field trip to our lovely city and our beautiful Biopark.

The list of facilities that welcome homeschoolers nationwide with classes and events include Disneyland California, NASA Houston, NASA Florida and Denver Zoo-locally the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Explora (and other facilities too numerous to list locally and nationally) as well as Community Centers such as Taylor Ranch accept homeschoolers without having to provide any proof of homeschooling. It is ONLY the City of Albuquerque's Biopark that requires this extra step.

I believe that it is in the best interest of our families and especially our children to make the Biopark and other City of Albuquerque facilities more accessible and welcoming to homeschoolers. It is the job of the State of New Mexico Public Education Department to monitor homeschoolers not the position of the City of Albuquerque.

Please add the Biopark and the City of Albuquerque to this growing list of excellent educational resources for homeschooling families.

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