Local not-for-profit campaigns against Amendment 3

With the help of Protect Our Local Schools, the not-for-profit group No On 3 conducted a phone bank Wednesday to gather opposition to Amendment 3, which would tie teacher evaluations to student test performance.

The initiative is on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, although the group spearheading it, Teachgreat.org, is no longer campaigning for it.

No On 3 treasurer David Larson said members of his group would be in the Geraldine Hirsch Room at the Cape Girardeau Public Library using their cellphones to dial into a system that will automatically call numbers on a list.

Mike Sherman, communications director for Protect Our Local Schools, said the group has dozens of volunteers making an average of 10,000 to 12,000 phone calls a night. But the organization still encourages voters to talk to other voters because that's the most effective method of getting the message out.

Sherman said he feels good about the chances of defeating the proposed amendment since school boards, superintendents, organizations and legislators have come out against it.

Larson said his group handed out about 500 leaflets Saturday during Southeast Missouri State University's Homecoming parade.

No On 3 plans to distribute business cards and leaflets in the weeks before Nov. 4.

"The school board response to it makes me feel like it's going to happen, but then when you get outside the school boards, not very many people know about it. That kind of puts a damper on the spirits of it being defeated, yet we're still a little under four weeks away from the election. People really don't start to notice it until two weeks before. That's when we're going to start going hot and heavy on the business cards and door hangers," Larson said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

711 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO