Effective Advocacy?

[geekygirly]

Hi! Our school district recently received a devastating funding cut from the state, and we are trying to organize community advocacy around restoring funding/passing specific bills that would assist us.

I know this has probably been discussed before, but I was wondering what the most effective methods for advocacy would be - that we should encourage our community to use.

Right now, we are encouraging phone calls, emails, and letters, but is there one we should emphasize more than the others?

Another district nearby is encouraging folks to tweet at their elected officials. Is this effective? (I felt like it might not be as effective as other methods?)

Any suggestions from those more knowledgeable would be helpful. Thank you <3 

[jkjacq]

Mar 30, 2024 10:41:22 GMT -6 geekygirly said:

Hi! Our school district recently received a devastating funding cut from the state, and we are trying to organize community advocacy around restoring funding/passing specific bills that would assist us.

I know this has probably been discussed before, but I was wondering what the most effective methods for advocacy would be - that we should encourage our community to use.

Right now, we are encouraging phone calls, emails, and letters, but is there one we should emphasize more than the others?

Another district nearby is encouraging folks to tweet at their elected officials. Is this effective? (I felt like it might not be as effective as other methods?)

Any suggestions from those more knowledgeable would be helpful. Thank you <3 

Letters to the editor, op-Ed’s, showing up to hearings or rep offices.
IME tweeting doesn’t really do anything.

[AmyG]

Snail mail or email at least gets replies sometimes. So hard to get $ to go to schools around here.

[byjove]

Who is the target- state or local legislators? We’ve been working hard with the local school board and city council on teacher pay issues. We are coordinating with PTAs and the citywide PTAC to speak at meetings/public hearings, and letter (email) writing. There is also a very robust advocacy FB group helping to organize everyone.

[geekygirly]

Mar 31, 2024 7:09:11 GMT -6 byjove said:

Who is the target- state or local legislators? We’ve been working hard with the local school board and city council on teacher pay issues. We are coordinating with PTAs and the citywide PTAC to speak at meetings/public hearings, and letter (email) writing. There is also a very robust advocacy FB group helping to organize everyone.

Our current targets are the state legislature (along with state DOE and the governor).

We are working on organizing all the PTAs in our district and I know other districts are doing the same, but not sure if there are any cross-district efforts yet.

[dc2london]

It's too easy to ignore social media posts.
Phone calls and letters, yes. Get the local news outlets involved; Journalists in your face with cameras can be quite persuasive.
Peaceful in-person, very visible protests (at their offices, at hearings/meetings, etc). I don't personally like protests outside people's homes bc it feels unfair to thwur kids and neighbors, but you can make life really inconvenient by making them walk past you to leave work in the evening.
Try petitions, too.

[dc2london]

Want me to see if i can get the giant baby tr*mp balloon sent to you?😅

[fancynewbeesly]

Ugh. I feel you. Our district in NJ also got ridiculous cuts as well. It sucks so bad.

We haven’t had much luck either.

[byjove]

Mar 31, 2024 9:29:52 GMT -6 geekygirly said:

Mar 31, 2024 7:09:11 GMT -6 byjove said:

Who is the target- state or local legislators? We’ve been working hard with the local school board and city council on teacher pay issues. We are coordinating with PTAs and the citywide PTAC to speak at meetings/public hearings, and letter (email) writing. There is also a very robust advocacy FB group helping to organize everyone.

Our current targets are the state legislature (along with state DOE and the governor).

We are working on organizing all the PTAs in our district and I know other districts are doing the same, but not sure if there are any cross-district efforts yet.

Ok, there probably aren’t public hearings then, but definitely have meetings with the legislators. Be persistent if needed.

[PandaWatch]

Phone calls, emails and in-person meetings

[jinkies]

1. Identify members on the budget and education sub committees.
2. Identify constituents of those members who are willing to meet with their legislators and can speak to the issues-- ideally with a child in the district who would be personally affected.
3. Create a one-pager with talking points: what the budget was, what it is now, how those shortfalls will affect the school district with specifics about programs that may need to be cut, etc if possible. Even better if there is a consensus about what the "ask" is for the legislators: Is it to maintain previous levels of funding? Increase it? Promise not to decrease more than x% in any given year? Is it to ask if they can find funding elsewhere to help the district continue X program that would need to be cut?
4. Set up in-person meetings with as many folks on the budget and education committees as possible. I would say that ideally these meetings would include no more than 3 or 4 people who are able to stay on message, and can succinctly summarize the issues in the general sense and also personalize with their experience/ how their family will be affected (PK4 being cut and now they have to pay for daycare they can't afford? Child needs a 1 to 1 aide but the district will no longer be able to offer? Child who has blossomed in the music programs which are now being cut? etc). NOTE: It is great if the member is in the meeting (and more likely at the state level than federal). But it's OK if these meetings are with aides.
5. Supplement these in-person meetings with encouraging EVERYONE to email or call their legislators with the same requests. It's great if you can provide a template they can use, maybe with a place for an optional paragraph where they can offer details on how their family is personally affected.

Also ask everyone if they have connections with any state reps or in the governor's office as that may help you get an audience.

You could also try to coordinate an advocacy day at the state capital, where you try to arrange as many of the meetings on the same day as possible, and have a presence in the lobby when anyone is not in a meeting.

[geekygirly]

Apr 4, 2024 14:47:34 GMT -6 jinkies said:

1. Identify members on the budget and education sub committees.
2. Identify constituents of those members who are willing to meet with their legislators and can speak to the issues-- ideally with a child in the district who would be personally affected.
3. Create a one-pager with talking points: what the budget was, what it is now, how those shortfalls will affect the school district with specifics about programs that may need to be cut, etc if possible. Even better if there is a consensus about what the "ask" is for the legislators: Is it to maintain previous levels of funding? Increase it? Promise not to decrease more than x% in any given year? Is it to ask if they can find funding elsewhere to help the district continue X program that would need to be cut?
4. Set up in-person meetings with as many folks on the budget and education committees as possible. I would say that ideally these meetings would include no more than 3 or 4 people who are able to stay on message, and can succinctly summarize the issues in the general sense and also personalize with their experience/ how their family will be affected (PK4 being cut and now they have to pay for daycare they can't afford? Child needs a 1 to 1 aide but the district will no longer be able to offer? Child who has blossomed in the music programs which are now being cut? etc). NOTE: It is great if the member is in the meeting (and more likely at the state level than federal). But it's OK if these meetings are with aides.
5. Supplement these in-person meetings with encouraging EVERYONE to email or call their legislators with the same requests. It's great if you can provide a template they can use, maybe with a place for an optional paragraph where they can offer details on how their family is personally affected.

Also ask everyone if they have connections with any state reps or in the governor's office as that may help you get an audience.

You could also try to coordinate an advocacy day at the state capital, where you try to arrange as many of the meetings on the same day as possible, and have a presence in the lobby when anyone is not in a meeting.

This is really helpful. Thanks so much!