Superintendent Advocacy Challenge - Keep Up the Good Work!
This blog stems from feedback we are receiving from members,
and observations and experience as we travel throughout the country. We are
entering the third month of the AASA 2017 advocacy challenge.
As a reminder, the advocacy team is challenging superintendents and education
leaders to commit to making contact with each member of their Congressional
delegation (two Senators and one Representative) each month, and is supporting
this effort by providing a policy overview (including background, context and
talking points) to support these conversations.
The current environment in DC—as it relates to federal
education policy conversations—can at best be described as concerning, if not
threatening. As such, when we provide updates to AASA members, we are ever
cognizant of the fact that almost all policy areas include something that could
be considered a threat, or not good news. With that in mind, and knowing that
the effort to build out and support superintendent advocacy in 2017, we wanted
to remind you of a few important points:
- Advocacy is a marathon,
not a sprint. Now, more than ever, this is important to keep in mind. It
is very likely that the conversations we have with this Congress and this
administration will be in defense of public education.
- Congress will make these
votes whether they hear from you or not. Let’s at least give them a shot
of getting it right. To use another axiom I just picked up: They may not
always do better, but our advocacy can ensure they know better.
- You do not need to be a
master in all aspects of federal policy. It is an explicit member
benefit—of belonging to both AASA and your state affiliate—to have support
in your advocacy efforts. Rely on your advocacy team to do the heavy lifts
of reading, analyzing and communicating important information about
legislation, regulation and policy.
- Continuing on the idea of
not needing to be a master of all aspects of federal policy, engage deeply
on the one or two that are most important to you/your district, or that
you find most interesting. From there, coordinate with other
superintendents in your region/state to ensure that all of the topics are
covered. If you focus on funding and education technology, perhaps your
neighboring superintendent can focus on nutrition, and another on ESSA,
and another on IDEA, etc… Many hands make light work.
- Keep your head up. The
current education policy environment may seem overwhelming or depressing
or a lost cause. Sincerely, though, (and accounting for the inherent job
bias we have toward public education and advocacy): Your voice matters.
Your advocacy matters. If we don’t commit to advocating for public
education now, who will? And when? To borrow from one of my favorite MLK
quotes, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards
justice.”, we have to reiterate that the arc of education in this nation
is long, and has long been the backbone of our nation, it’s civic
education/engagement, and its success, and bends toward public education.
This moment in time is a shift of the pendulum to the opposite end of the
spectrum, and your commitment and advocacy is the best remedy we can think
of.