A Day of Education Advocacy on the Hill

During AASA’s legislative advocacy conference every July, we give participants the opportunity to advocate for their districts on Capitol Hill. This year, after a day of briefings and topical panels on federal affairs, we sent more than 200 superintendents and school business officials to meet with their members of Congress.

As a member of AASA’s public policy staff, I accompanied six superintendents from Montana. This is what that day in mid-July looked like.

 9 a.m. Group convened at downtown D.C. hotel to discuss logistics for the day’s meetings, topics to be discussed and who would handle each topic.

 10 a.m. Met with Sen. Steven Daines, R-Mont., and his education staffer to discuss the Every Student Succeeds Act regulations, school nutrition, the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the Rural Education Achievement Program. The senator, a former businessman, seemed especially interested in stopping the federal overreach in regulations tied to ESSA. He and his staff spent an hour with us, discussing the school districts led by the visiting superintendents and our biggest federal policy and funding issues.

 Noon Lunched in the Senate’s basement cafeteria. We enjoyed watching the congressional staffers interact, not a far cry from a high school cafeteria. The superintendents even got to sample the softshell crab — not a common menu item in Montana!

 2:15 p.m. Met with Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and his education staffer at the Hart Senate Office Building. We also discussed ESSA regulations, school nutrition, Perkins and REAP with them. The senator, a third-generation farmer and former teacher, assured us he would stop any movement of the Senate nutrition bill that we do not support because of its increase in administrative burden, among other issues. He also promised to send us a draft of his letter to the U.S. Department of Education about the problems he has with their proposed ESSA regulations. We thanked him sincerely for his support over the years as he is often willing to break from his party to protect public schools and students.

 3:30 p.m. Braved the mid-summer heat to cross over to the House side of Capitol Hill to meet with Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and his education staffer in the Cannon Office Building. Because he is not on relevant committees, the congressman is not keenly aware of many of the issues facing the superintendents’ districts. We told him about the schools in these communities and the unique needs of K-12 education in Montana. We were pleased to meet his education staffer, so we can stay in touch with her when future issues arise.

 5 p.m. Group headed back to the hotel to debrief and rest from an exciting day of legislative advocacy.

Followup Work

One thing we remind our visiting school leaders is to regularly keep their members of Congress aware of the great work taking place in the local schools and how they can help from Washington. A quick e-mail or phone call or even an in-person meeting in their district office keeps them informed.

Despite what you have heard, the work of legislative advocacy is not a sprint — it’s a marathon! Advocating for one’s school district does not have to involve coming to the District of Columbia and Capitol Hill, but AASA’s legislative advocacy conference is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in an up-close and personal experience.