March 10, 2006

Last week we sent out a notice calling for all COHEAO members to make April 5th and 6th a Perkins Day where you would come to Washington, DC and visit Members of Congress to support funding for the Perkins Loan Program. After consulting with the COHEAO Grassroots Action Network captains and members of the Board of Directors, we have decided to cancel that proposal due to scheduling difficulties and instead create a new event called Perkins Days at Home. If you have already made plans to come to Washington, that’s great; the COHEAO staff can help you make appointments.

For Perkins Days at Home we are calling on all COHEAO members to visit your local and/or nearby House members and Senators in their home districts/states.

The week of March 17 through 26th is the new “Saint Patrick’s Day District Work Period” when Congress will be out of session and most of the House and Senate members will be in their home state. There are two ways to participate in Perkins Days at Home:

1. Make an appointment to visit the Congress Member at their local office. To find the phone numbers and addresses, go to www.coheao.org, click on the top line – “Click HERE to send a letter to Congress” and enter your zip code. Both Representatives and Senators also usually list their local offices in the telephone book. Attached is a sample meeting request letter that can be faxed into district offices as well.

2. Attend a town meeting and make a statement asking your Representative or Senator to support the Perkins Loan Program. To find out about a town meeting, call the local office or check their web site.

When attending events, bring the attached Talking Points for your self and to give to Members of Congress.

Here is a brief message:

Describe how they help students there – at your school or at schools you work with. You can then say something like this:

Please support the Perkins Loan Program to provide student loans to low and middle income students who need to finance higher education. Please vote to fund the Perkins Loan Federal Capital Contribution and provide enough funding to reimburse campuses for loan cancellations when students go into public service jobs. The capital contribution is an especially efficient use of federal funds because it is partly matched by the school and because the funds will be repaid and re-lent, helping generation after generation of students. About half a million to 700,000 students get Perkins Loans every year.

Finally, let the COHEAO office or a Grassroots Captain know how you do.

Andrew Stringer
Legislative Associate
Washington Partners, LLC
(P) 202-289-3903
(F) 202-371-0197
astringer@wpllc.net