What your Local PTA can do:
Advocacy takes time and effort and does not become successful overnight. Most importantly, advocacy should not happen only during legislative session. The time to start is now, when the daily rigor of school work and home work settles down. The place to start is your own backyard. There is greater impact meeting with your legislators while they are at home rather than at the state or national capitol. You have a greater opportunity to express your concerns and to talk with them about the effects their decisions had on your community.
Be as creative and unique as the community you represent when coming up with ways to advocate. Below are a few suggestions you can implement:
- HOST A MEET-AND-GREET for your legislators and your PTA/PTSA. With redrawn districts, House and Senate members should be eager to meet their constituents. Be sure to include all nominees for any given office. PTA’s cannot show partiality to any one candidate.
- HOLD A CANDIDATES FORUM Invite PTA and community members to participate by preparing questions in advance of the forum. Reach out to the local media for a possible forum host. Consider videotaping the forum and post it on your PTA website. Again, remember to include all nominees running for an elected office.
- CREATE A LEGISLATIVE QUESTIONAIRE Send a list of questions (not to exceed 10) to all nominees running for your legislative county delegation that are of special interest to your PTA. Questions could include issues such as their vision for the future of public education; the importance of parental involvement; vouchers; funding, etc. Establish a deadline for their written responses and post the responses on your website or other electronic communication. For those who may not respond to the questionnaire, post that as well.
- WHEN SCHOOL RE-OPENS IN THE FALL, invite your legislators to visit your school(s). This will provide them a first-hand experience of a “day in the life” in a public school. They are, after all, making the important decisions regarding our schools and our children’s education.
Keep in mind… if your legislators are not hearing from you about how their decisions affect your community, then you cannot expect them to appreciate the consequences of their actions.
We want to hear about your advocacy efforts. Email kristina@utahpta.org and share your successes so we can share with those around the state.
What a PTA can and cannot do when it comes to elections?
PTAs are 501c3 nonprofit organizations and must remain neutral and nonpartisan during elections. To help you decide what activities your local PTA can get involved in, we have provided guidance. See 501(c)(3) Guidelines for PTAs During the Election Season page for the complete list of dos and don'ts. (6 minute PTA University video)
Set the stage for effective advocacy:
- Determine the Issues. Know the pros and cons of your issue and what information is a valuable, forthcoming, or lacking.
- Build a Volunteer Network. Change occurs as a result of grassroots. Determine where you are likely to get support and what you will need to bring these supporters on board.
- Organize Around Goals. Break issues into short-term, sustainable goals: They should be action-oriented, clearly defined, and focused on what can be accomplished.
- Identify Targets and Tactics. Describe the goals and objectives for each activity you plan to undertake, the audience it is intended to influence, and the range of potential outcomes.
- Build Coalitions—Maximize Resources. The more people working on your issue, the greater the chances of getting what you want. Coalitions can maximize support and increase you strength.
- Develop a Message That Resonates. Message is the disciplined delivery of PTA core beliefs that inform the public how the issues affect their families and communities.
- Use the Media. Develop relationships with media by becoming a credible source of information, staging newsworthy events, releasing information, and always telling the truth and sharing facts.
- Communicate With Decision Makers. The more decision makers you contact and persuade with your message, the better your chances are of achieving PTA priorities.
- Use Utah PTA and National PTA Resources. Utah PTA and National PTA have a wealth of information available for your use.
- Put It All Together. Create a written plan in which you identify PTA goals, organizational capacity, target audiences, potential allies, opposition, and the activities to be pursued.
- Get Out There and Just Do It!
(Adapted from National PTA’s Guide to Effective Advocacy)
What you as an individual can do:
It is our hope that PTA members and advocacy partners will use this site to learn about Utah PTA’s current basic public policy, positions, legislative priorities and advocacy efforts and link these to their own advocacy efforts at the grassroots level. Learn more about grassroots advocacy information by signing up for the Utah PTA Take Action Network by emailing kristina@utahpta.org
While we speak for every child with one voice, the more voices the louder the chorus! Join us to keep the advocacy flame burning and sustain the legacy of that first small group of women in Utah in 1925. In doing so, we will realize our vision: to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.
What else can I do?
Being ENGAGED is the most important thing you can do to be an advocate for your child. There are many ways to do that from volunteering in PTA, being a member of the School Community Council, Being a County or State Delagate and even writing a resolution for Utah PTA. See the pages below for more infomation.