Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Advocacy and You

A presentation was given to the Texas ASCD Board of Directors last week about The New Advocacy: Technical & Adaptive Approaches. During this presentation, we were given some legislative basics/guidelines to follow when advocating. Below are informal notes taken at the meeting, which we would like to share with you:

Knowledge:
  • Know the process - know how committee meetings and legislative meetings are run, and how a bill becomes law.
  • Know key players - know your legislators, their staff, and what committees the legislator is a member of.
  • Know your message - know how your message is perceived, know the facts, and who else supports/rejects your cause.
Relationships:
  • Get to know your legislator. Make those connections early, so they will turn to your for your opinions in times of need. Going by and visiting your legislator’s staff is also a good idea. They are the key to getting the information you are interested in relaying to the proper person.
  • When your legislator does something you like or supports you, let them know what that means to you and thank them for what they do.
  • Relate your cause to a story. Don’t just set-up a meeting with your legislator and go over facts and figures. Relate the data to stories. They need to remember what you are telling them and be able to convince others to join your cause. The best way is to relate your issues to a story they will remember.
Time Frame:
  • The best time to contact your legislator is during their non-legislative season, which is now. If you wait until the legislative session, then it is too late. Legislators are in and out of their offices at this time, and there are many people trying to get in touch with them. If you start your relationship with them early-on and an issue comes up during the session, they are more willing to hear what you have to say and even call you up to ask your opinion.
  • Re-election time is very vital to legislators. If you can spare some time to help with their re-elections, then legislators are more willing to build that relationship with you.
Attend:
  • Before you go to testify at a hearing, you need to attend the committee meetings first, so you will be apprised of the protocol. These meetings are very different than what one would expect.
  • Pay attention to the meetings and look for, distractions, verbal attacks and any additional tactics they can use to get what they want accomplished during the meeting. Be aware of these.
Above are just a few basics in advocating. For more information on advocating and stimulus money updates, come to the Critical Issues Influence Institute in Austin. Contact the Texas ASCD office for more information and to RSVP.

Presentation by Dr. Dawson Orr, February 24, 2010

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
  1. Are you currently involved in advocating? If so, what do you do to connect with your legislator?
  2. What other useful information would you give to educators who are interested in having their voice heard from our governmental officials?