The ABC's of Advocacy

The Arizona Budget Coalition is an alliance of teachers, public service employees, parents and community members that has come up with its own menu of options for solving the budget crisis. Members of this coalition include the Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona Education Association.

They have been holding advocacy training sessions across the state in the hopes of demystifying the legislative process and encouraging citizens to contact their legislator and ask them to support public schools.

Tri-Valley Central recently covered some of their efforts:

"We've seen a lot of parent groups coming out in full force, talking about their concerns for their students and the future of their schools and their communities," said ASBA lobbyist Beth Sauer.

"If you can establish a relationship with your legislator," Sauer said, "if they know who you are, if you are someone that they can call if they have a question about something or they want information about your school district, that's a really great way to set yourself up as a tool and a resource for this person."

AEA vice-president Andrew Morrill encouraged citizens to initiate a relationship with their legislator "So when they are down there hashing out the budget, they are not just numbers. They can connect those numbers to programs that they know are happening in their schools and their districts in the communities they represent."

He also urged participants to take their case to the legislature, but to do so in a coordinated effort.

"Nobody is asking you to go meet with a legislator alone," Morrill added. "If you are going for the first time, go together, so they can't peel you off. If parents go alone, legislators will blame administration and teachers. If teachers go alone, they blame administrators and parents. If administrators go alone, they blame the other missing folks. Go together."

Are you willing to send a message to a legislator about public schools? March4Schools.org is a great place to start.