From the Founder's Desk:
I hope everyone had a great spring and is ready for summer! It has been a while since we last sent out our eNews blast, but look for an update from us every few months with news on our programs.
| In this issue, read about: » Updated Budget Challenge » Budget Choices Brochure » Budget Quiz » Infrastructure Program » Photo Contest » Ethnic Media Partnership |
We have been busy here at Next Ten and this edition of eNews contains information on the updated Budget Challenge, information on our developing infrastructure program, a list of our upcoming events, the results from our student photo contest, and much more!
I wanted to make sure you were aware of another project that I founded: 100 Families Oakland: Art and Social Change. In partnership with the California College of the Arts, and officially launched April 2, 2005, 100 Families Oakland is a community art project that demonstrates and celebrates the power of families, the creative spirit of Oakland and how art can connect families to families, families to neighborhoods and neighborhoods to neighborhoods. Over the course of the last year, 100 families from four Oakland neighborhoods learned about art while they created paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints centered on the theme of family. Art from the West Oakland project is on exhibit at the African American Museum and Library in Oakland until May 27. Check it out! 100 Families Oakland will culminate in an all-neighborhood exhibition in January 2007 at the Oakland Museum of California.
Next Ten and the 100 Families Oakland project are very similar in that the goals of both of the projects are to educate, engage and empower Californians. Making art together is a wonderful, nonconfrontational tool to bring people together around community building.
It was also an honor to be able to speak at the Woodside and Menlo Park rotaries, and share the work of Next Ten and of the 100 Families Oakland project. I am looking forward to speaking at other rotary meetings in the future.
Again, many thanks for your support of Next Ten. We look to you for comments and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by email at info@nextten.org or at 650.321.5417.
--F. Noel Perry
Challenge Update
We spent the last few months updating the California Budget Challenge and we hope you have already checked it out. If not, please take a few minutes and visit the updated Challenge today at www.nextten.org. This update includes several new policy choices, enhanced user-friendly graphics, and is now looking out five years to help you better understand the choices we face and how they affect the long-term budget.
New policy options include a choice to dedicate new income tax revenues to either balance the budget or fund preschool and an option to levy a cigarette tax.
The Challenge gives you the option to fund or suspend funding the budget reserve, the option to pre-pay retiree health benefits, and the option to change state college tuition levels. This update explores the impacts of investing in infrastructure by giving you the option to increase transportation spending and revenues.
We update the Budget Challenge based on current proposals and on your feedback, so please let us know what you think.
As our mission states, we are working to educate, engage and empower all 37 million Californians. We are pleased to report that we are now a part of the curriculum for many high school and college classes across the state. These students are California's future.
But, we still need your help to reach all Californians! The Challenge can only begin to spark conversation if Californians across the state have the opportunity to take it. If you enjoyed taking the Challenge and think others should take it, please link to us on your website so your members can enjoy it too. If you have a newsletter, please share the Challenge with your readers. You can even challenge your members to take the Challenge and share their results. We will continue to keep you posted about Next Ten in the news and appreciate all the support we have received already!
Budget Choices Brochure
In addition to the Budget Challenge we hope you have seen our Budget Choices brochure that contains basic facts about the state budget. This free brochure is now available in five languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean) and can be found at over 100 libraries statewide. If you have not seen the brochure yet you can order free copies online here. So far we have received orders for over 250,000 pieces so keep them coming!
Budget Quiz
In case you have not visited our website recently, we now have our Budget Quiz available in Spanish and English. Please pass this along to your busy friends who want to learn about the state budget but do not have time to take the Budget Challenge.
Infrastructure Program
Next Ten has started work on developing an infrastructure program similar to our efforts on the state budget. To help assemble a strategy we partnered with the Panetta Institute to convene a group of infrastructure experts from across the state in dialogue. Please read materials from our expert panelists.
Photo Contest
To kick-start our infrastructure program we decided to try something new. In partnership with the LegiSchool Project we sponsored a photo contest on the subject of infrastructure in California. Middle and High School students from across the state participated in this contest—you can check out all the photos we received here. We are planning on using several of these in our infrastructure brochure and in other future publications.
Ethnic Media Partnership
Next Ten is partnering with New America Media to brief ethnic media on the long-term trends in the economy and how they impact state spending this year and in the future.
Three briefings across the state will:
- Feature a briefing on the state budget by Next Ten's Senior Economist Stephen Levy.
- Provide information on what is important about the state budget and ways to build the capacity to report on issues affecting your communities.
- Provide FREE non-partisan budget education resources in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean.
Thank You for Your Interest in Next Ten
Please contact us at info@nextten.org for additional information or visit us online at www.nextten.org.