Advocacy Action Plan
August 1, 2011
Dear Education Advocate:
Members of Congress will be in their hometowns this month. Following their return to Washington in September, Congress will likely pass legislation that will have a significant impact on your school district. You have a great opportunity to influence the language and impact of these new laws. How? NSBA’s Advocacy Action Plan provides you with the tools to effectively communicate with your members of Congress now before they cast their votes in the fall.
As a member of your local school board, you are a key stakeholder in ensuring that Congress supports your efforts to improve the academic achievement of your students. Your members of Congress need to fully understand the challenges that you face and the need for Congress to not only continue its strong financial investments in our students, but also to eliminate costly, burdensome requirements that serve as barriers to your success. When critical votes are taken on Capitol Hill, you want to make sure that your members of Congress vote in a way that helps - not hurts - our public schools.
This Advocacy Action Plan provides you with five key messages to communicate to Congress which include:
- Increase and certainly preserve federal funding for the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Title I.
- Reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) now.
- Support the school district role in providing early learning options that are voluntary and permit flexible use of federal funds.
- Vote “No” when the Charter Schools bill, H.R. 2218, comes before the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Make sure that school districts don't have to take funding away from classrooms and teachers in order to implement the changes required by the child nutrition reauthorization.
When you carry these messages to your members of Congress, it is critical that you include specific data and examples to underscore your district’s concerns. You need to share examples of what would happen or not happen if the legislation does not support what is needed in your local school district.
Please plan to join us for a special webinar on Tuesday, August 9, 2011, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern and hear from NSBA’s Federal Advocacy & Public Policy staff regarding the latest developments on Capitol Hill as they discuss the Advocacy Action Plan. To participate in the webinar, look for information in a special e-mail and at www.nsba.org/actionplan2011. The latest talking points and sample letters to Congress can also be found at www.nsba.org/actionplan2011.
Your leadership as a local public school advocate is crucial—especially as policymakers heighten the national debate on education innovation and reform. We are counting on you to communicate to your members of Congress and to your community the importance of the priorities identified in the Advocacy Action Plan.
Thank you for taking this opportunity to tell Congress, while they are at home, that public education and student achievement must be at the forefront of their pending decisions.
Sincerely,
Mary Broderick Anne L. Bryant
President Executive Director
P.S. If you need any assistance, please contact Kathleen Branch, NSBA’s national advocacy services director, at kbranch@nsba.org or 703.838.6735.