TENNESSEE - In less than one week after over 53,000 MoveOn members in Tennessee and across the country signed a petition started by the family of 11-year-old Marcel Neergaard on MoveOn.org, StudentsFirst, an education policy organization created by Michelle Rhee, agreed to rescind its support for Tennessee State Rep. John Ragan because of his continued track record supporting and sponsoring legislation that targets LGBT students and promotes harassment by teachers, school counselors, and peers. StudentsFirst announced today that it has officially rescinded Rep. Ragan's "Reformer of the Year" award.
VIEW THE NEERGAARD'S PETITION HERE: petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-studentsfirst-bullying .
In a statement on the StudentsFirst website, Michelle Rhee, the organization's founder, writes, "Regardless of when Representative Ragan was named a 'Reformer of the Year' by our organization, his introduction of ill-conceived and harmful legislation including HB 1332 — which would have cultivated a culture of bullying — does not represent the type of leadership we look for in our legislative champions. We have made that clear to Rep. Ragan and rescinded the recognition."
VIEW MICHELLE RHEE'S STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF MARCEL HERE: http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/studentsfirst-stands-with-marcel
"I want to make sure to thank all the people who signed my petition, because without them, it would not have been possible," explained Marcel Neegaard, who was joined by his parents. "When I pressed the victory button [on my petition], I actually got my brother to put his finger over my finger, because he really wanted to push it." The Neergaard family also posted a photo on Facebook thanking their supporters.
VIEW THE NEERGAARD THANK YOU PHOTO HERE: www.facebook.com/photo.php .
"MoveOn members applaud Marcel and the Neergaard family for pushing StudentsFirst to rescind Rep. Ragan's 'Reformer of the Year' award and for motivating StudentsFirst to come out in support of anti-bullying legislation that protects LGBT students from harassment by teachers and their peers," said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org . "Students across the country need to know that they are safe in school and valued for who they are. Marcel's campaign was inspiring, and an example of how anyone can run their own campaign and tap into the people power of MoveOn.org members and win. We're very glad that Marcel and his younger brother were empowered to press the victory button."
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