November 23, 2015
Dear Friends of United Way of St. Charles,
I’m writing to you today because I feel a recent news story, and the interest it has drawn, deserves some comment.
The story is about the St. Tammany School Board voting to suspend support of United Way of Southeast Louisiana, which is the New Orleans United Way, due to that United Way’s political stand on a topic. (In this case, Common Core Standards.) You can read the story here: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/11/st_tammany_school_board_drops.html
The story helps illustrate some important points that I’ll summarize succinctly:
1st- ALL United Ways are independent organizations. We essentially share a name and a structure (being a non-profit, having a volunteer Board of Directors, etc.) Our United Way, United Way of St. Charles, is a completely independent non-profit with a goal of improving the quality of life in St. Charles Parish in the areas of Education, Income, and Health. Put in a different way, we have NO connection to the operations or agenda of the New Orleans United Way or any other United Way. Additionally, we do not engage in political advocacy at United Way of St. Charles.
2nd- United Way of St. Charles and St. Charles Parish Public Schools have a VERY strong partnership. We consider our Public School Leadership to be integral allies in achieving our goals. We are grateful for our past relationship and look forward to our future collaborations.
For more information on United Way of St. Charles, please visit our website at www.uwaysc.org and of course feel free to contact me.
John Dias
United Way of St. Charles Executive Director