“I read the bill.” 

That was the subject line of the email I sent the Lt. Governor’s policy director.

“Uncodified section of HB 297 re: parental involvement is more detailed than our bill draft. Thanks.”  was the text.

House Bill 297 is the Administration’s pre-K bill.

Senator Bill Ferguson and I had a pre-meeting with the staff before a meeting with the advocates, which was followed by a press conference with the Lt. Governor, Senate President, and the Speaker.

At the pre-meeting, we were shown a draft of the bill.

The legislation that the Senator and I had worked on required a study of “the benefits of parental engagement in conjunction with early childhood education.”

I asked that such language be added to the Administration bill.

Today, I read the bill.

HB 297 would require the State Department of Education to develop an outreach plan based on the best practices identified by the study.

 A study and a plan are better than a study.

So I sent my email.

As Tip O’Neill said (but not in an email), “People like to be asked and people like to be thanked.”