Please make a commitment and complete at least one of the following tasks! BE BOLD!!
1. Contact your local legislators. Either send a quick email or post card. Send them a message of congratulations if they won last fall. Introduce yourself and tell them you are a school counselor in their district. Let them know you will be contacting them again. The first step is all about building relationships. Here is the page to look up who the senators and representatives are for your district.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/find
- It doesn't have to be a long email. It is recommended to keep correspondence short and to the point.
- We recommend that you use a private email address for communication with the legislators. It will ensure that your communication and lobbying efforts are private and that there are not any conflicts with your school district policy.
Utilize these conversation starters to help in your advocacy.
2. Attend your local legislative forums. Find out when and where these will be held and attend! You will especially want to go to the meeting that has an Education focus. We will be sending out emails with information on where to find the meeting locaitons and times. Ask to be notified in your email for the information about the forums.
3. Please use School Counselor instead of guidance counselor on ALL or your mailings, signs and signatures. If you have questions about WHY you need to do this, please contact one of the ISCA board members. We all need to stand together on this issue! It is time!
Tips & Tricks for Advocacy
- Remember to use your home email address and computer or device.
- If you use school email, you can only inform the legislators, not lobby them to vote in a particular way.
- Identify yourself as an educator so they can keep your name in their records.
- Email one legislator at a time. They prefer a more personal contact over a mass email.
- Make the message student-centered.
- Make plans to attend a legislative forum in your community.
- Register for Iowa ACAC and ISCA Visit the Hill Day at http://www.iowaacac.org/visit-the-hill.