Your Role In Influencing State Educational Policyby Joe Donovan School leaders have an important role, as part of their district’s leadership team, to advocate for state policy that prioritizes education and is informed by evidence. In addition, many parent and community education advocacy groups have been forming around the state in the last couple of years. This article describes this trend and provides guidance of where parents in your district can turn if they are interested in advocating at the state level. A new type of local pro-public education group has been taking root in Wisconsin and is reshaping school advocacy. Led by parents, grandparents, small business owners, and other community members, small, local education groups formed in communities across the state during the last legislative session to push back on sharp cuts to public education included in the governor’s proposed 2015–2017 budget. Starting in the spring of 2015, groups in places like Lake Mills, the Fox Valley, and Wauwatosa rallied parents, many of who had never been involved in the political process other than voting. Such groups took to social media, wrote letters to newspaper editors, attended town hall meetings where legislators appeared, and generally sought to inform fellow community members about the possible impact of state-level cuts on our schools. The budget that was signed into law by the governor in 2015 was not good for public education. Nevertheless, many capital watchers suggest that the budget would have been much worse for public schools had these parent-led groups not been engaged. Now, as we look to another legislative session and a new state budget process, local education groups are back, with even greater numbers. And they are ready to go. In Wauwatosa, where the Wauwatosa SOS organization was one of the leading advocacy groups in the last session, members are gearing up for a long budget process. Since last year, the group has formalized itself as a 501.c4 organization, established committee structures, launched a robust website, developed a campaign-style database, and met with local and regional reporters. The group has also worked with similar groups that have sprouted up across the state. In fact, where once educational advocacy groups could be counted on one hand, now there are several dozen located in every corner of the state. In fact, the new Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN), now the hub of various educational groups in the state, reports that there are over 40 local educational advocacy groups, with more, it seems, on the way. The WPEN (or “the network”) coordinates and provides regular updates on activities of various groups across the state. In addition to hosting a map of the various local public education advocacy groups in the state, the network also provides information about how parents and other interested individuals can start a local group in their communities and get information about such important topics as Wisconsin school finance and the state budget. As we go into the new state budget cycle, AWSA members should know that, through its affiliation with the School Administrators Alliance, our voices will be heard, just as always. But we can also find comfort in knowing that thousands of parents, through their local advocacy efforts, are with us in this important work. If your parents are interested in advocating at the state level and are looking for resources to help them get started, please let them know that I am happy to help. I can be contacted at [email protected].
Joe Donovan is the founder and president of the Donovan Group. The Donovan Group is an education-focused communications firm that provides crisis communications support to AWSA members. If you have a crisis situation or a communications-related question, please don’t hesistate to call Joe Donovan at 414-409-7225 ext. 2, or reach out to him via email at [email protected]. |