MAKING REGIONAL PUBLIC ED ADVOCACY WORK
What's the story?

Advocacy is defined by Oxford as “public support for or recommendations of a particular cause or policy”. The simplest form of advocacy is a call or email to your legislator’s office asking for assistance or making a recommendation in how to better serve you as a citizen.

How does advocacy work for school districts? School board trustees advocate on behalf of their school district or work with other school boards to advance public education issues. However, fortunately, there are many groups involved in public education advocacy and it is important to understand who our closest allies are in the fight for student interests. 
What does it look like when an individual school board gets involved in public education advocacy? 
  • BOE: An individual school board can pass a resolution. 
  • Grassroots: School boards can ask parents and local community members to support a campaign of letter/email writing to legislators. 
  • Local: School board members and superintendents can attend meetings set up by WPSBA with NYS legislators to discuss imminent local public ed issues. 
  • Regional: School board members can attend WPSBA Advocacy meetings to discuss and suggest advocacy issues that are adopted by the organization. WPSBA and LHCSS representatives recommend advocacy priorities to the Lower Hudson Education Coalition (LHEC) as members of the LHEC Steering Committee. 
  • Statewide: School boards can write advocacy resolutions and vote for or against a list of NYSSBA resolutions at the Business Meeting at the end of Convention each year.  
Remind me how regional advocacy works

WPSBA holds regular advocacy meetings to get input from our membership to determine advocacy priorities and to share information about current advocacy efforts.  We schedule meetings with NYS legislators for board members and superintendents and host an annual legislative forum during NYS budget time.  As a 501(c)3 non-profit, WPSBA can be involved in general advocacy focused on public education but is restricted from activities considered to be “lobbying”.   

The Lower Hudson Education Coalition (LHEC) is a broader organization with membership open to 77 school districts in four counties. The operations and advocacy platform of LHEC is voted on by a steering committee made up of representatives of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents (LHCSS) and the school board associations of Dutchess, Rockland, and Westchester Putnam.  In addition to a larger regional base, a joint effort between school boards and superintendents gives the LHEC a unique perspective. As a 501(c)6 non-profit, the LHEC is permitted to undertake a wide range of lobbying activities, including hiring the Albany governmental relations firm, Ostroff Associates to lobby on behalf of all LHEC member districts. 
What's next?

Learning about the issues facing public school districts in New York State is the best place to start. The WPSBA Spotlight on Advocacy will be sent to your inbox periodically to provide you with some background on a particular advocacy issue. The WPSBA website has information on some issues affecting public school districts under Current Issues (in the District Info/data section).  

Get involved in regional advocacy. Look for notices for upcoming WPSBA Advocacy Meetings. Come to the meeting with suggestions for advocacy issues or come to learn more about current and potential advocacy priorities. The calendar for Advocacy Meetings is also on the WPSBA website. WPSBA’s virtual version of our Legislative Forum, where school board members and superintendents meet with state legislators representing your district, will be online and will take place over the course of a week in February 2021.  All board members and superintendents are encouraged to participate in this joint program between WPSBA the CSAs of Southern Westchester and the CSAs of Putnam/Northern Westchester. 

Discuss advocacy at the board table and within your school district. WPSBA has put together a DIY Advocacy Toolkit for public education on our website to help you get started.  Keep an eye out for WPSBA Resolution templates from time to time. A board resolution gets forwarded to legislators and is a public statement of your board’s position on an issue. School district and community involvement in WPSBA and LHEC VoterVoice e-letter campaigns allow for a quick marshalling of community participants to send emails to NYS representatives. VoterVoice email letters advocating for federal relief funding for public education in New York State have already been sent out by over 2,800 people.  
Get involved in public ed advocacy through WPSBA.
Come to tonight's advocacy meeting (6:30 pm - 8:00 pm) where the focus will be on the NYSSBA resolutions being voted on at this year's convention.