Tom Seigel, SuperintendentBethel School District
Connecting with Your Legislator
1
Legislative Advocacy
If not us, who?KnowledgeExperience - understanding of intricacies of
policy decisions (e.g. FTE, full day K and classroom ratios impact on housing, $97 million re-purposing and 1080 hours issue)
2
Seigel’s Hierarchy of Communications Effectiveness
In personSmall groupLarge groupPhoneEmailText, social mediaTVPrinted material
3
Communications Effectiveness
Simple (the inverse of university training)No jargonAssume 10th grade comprehensionRemember the reader is not an expertPoint paper - one page max - executive
summary formatUse statistics - factsShow benefits
4
Communications Effectiveness
Assume business model as a basis of understanding (cost/benefit ratio)
Repetition – persistenceMind-visualization examples
MapPictures/graphics
Rapid response to questionsInclude all elected legislators of your district –
Perhaps county council, county executive,
WASA, ESD, and other superintendents in your county; copy to Board and senior staff
(depending on topic)
5
How Not to Do It
The “parade” at the capitalBe demanding/unpleasant
6
In the Background Activities (reinforcing credibility)
Rep to State Board of Education meetingsActive participation in other school
professional organizations and governmental bodies:
Operations, construction, food service, finance, transportation – be known as a
playerLobbyist
7
Persistency
Don’t get frustrated, it takes time – there are many multi-year issues.
Remember, government was designed to tackle difficult, perhaps intractable problems.
If there weren’t tough problems, you wouldn’t have an interesting job!
8
How?
PlanPick topicsPrioritizeBoard review/approvePrivate informal meetings with legislators - by
youDinner with Board and LegislatorsPatron school visits – background
information/trust buildingEmails (topic specific), phone calls, office visitsRapid response needed, especially during session
9
10
11
12
13
14
15