Motivating for Action PTA Takes Action

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Motivating for ActionPTA Takes Action

• Presented by
• Georgia PTA Legislative Committee
• everychild.onevoice.
• 2009 National PTA Legislative Conference
• Washington, D.C.
• March 11, 2009

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(No Transcript)
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Who we are
Georgia Legislative Committee is currently
composed of 20 members

• State Chair Federal Chair
• Education Specialist
• President, Pres-Elect Immediate Past President
• 3 former State Chairs
• District/Council Legislative Chairs
• State Board Committee Chairs
• Specialists with specific skills expertise
  (website, public relations/media, surveys
  statistics)
• Local unit Legislative Chairs who want to work
  with us

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Nowwho are you?

• State President
• State V.P.
• State and/or Federal Legislative Chair
• Local Advocacy/Legislative Chair
• Special/Skilled Advocate

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Why we are here

• To share how we built continue to grow our
  legislative committee
• To share what we do as a team
• To share when we do our trainings conferences
• To share techniques skills that we find useful
  successful
• To motivate learn from you

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Historical backgroundDoes this sound familiar?

• Get President/officers board buy-in for a
  larger and more active legislative committee
• Get basic resources for that legislative
  committee
• Get a budget to create advocacy tools (eg.
  website), conferences in-house trainings
• Get continued support throughout the year from
  the board and your membership

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Many times you have to
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Be a rhino

• Hard nosed determined
• Thick skinned can take a bruising
• Big in the room while politely maneuvering your
  weight around
• Be ready to charge again, sometimes in a new
  direction
• Find other rhinos to team up with

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So you can become

• An organized, expanded mature team
• A trained, skilled cohesive team
• A continually growing, renewing dynamic team

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What we do

• Advocate locally, statewide nationally
• Educate members, community elected officials
• Train members, community elected officials
• Recruit for skills, expertise geography
• Retain team members for historical and knowledge
  recall (we just dont let them leave!)
• Develop team unity thru communication,
  participation and just having fun

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Circle of Life for the Georgia Legislative Team
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Convention/Leadership Training - July

• Annual convention to celebrate, network and do
  the business of Georgia PTA
• Leadership training with a wide variety of
  workshops and trainings
• Legislative track is offered with graduated
  workshopsrookie thru old pro!
• Great place to recruit new legislative committee
  members

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State Advocacy ConferenceSeptember

• Georgia PTA literally takes over the Capitol!
• We hold our meetings in the House Senate
  Chambers
• We stake out our territory. Its important to
  train members build year-long working
  relationships with elected officials
• We work to develop our annual Legislative
  Priorities for the upcoming General Assembly
  session
• We bring in speakers and legislators

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Legislative committee Board advocacy training
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State advocacy training
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Working lunch
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PTA takes over the Capitol
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PTA Day at the CapitolFebruary

• Held during the 40-day state legislative session
• Training in legislative process procedures
  bill issue briefing
• Face-to-face lobbying with elected officials
• Press conferences/coalition gatherings
• Networking luncheon with Legislators

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PTA Day at the Capitol
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Our Specialist Guest speakers
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Save our nurses
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PTA Day at the Capitol 09
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Ongoing legislative responsibilities activities
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Website Demo

• http//www.georgiapta.org/

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Legislation needs a team tools!

• A strong committee can multi-task be in several
  places at once
• Work advocate several issues and events
  simultaneously
• Advocate plan events with experience and
  knowledge
• Inform, teach communicate issues
• Motivate each other keep everyone SANE
  protect from Burnout!

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Making advocacy REAL for members thru the issues
Whats in it for me?

• School nurses
• Vouchers
• Funding budget

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Pocketful of ideas

• Voter Registration year round
• Voter registration booth at local festivals,
  neighborhood parks
• Voter registration contests in school
• Voter registration at every PTA meeting
• Student or LU produced voter registration
  videoPSA

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Mock student elections

• Elementary school mock election
• Teacher, parent, student community
  participation
• Video produced and posted on U-Tube

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Bring policymakers to your PTA events

• School cluster and councils events
• Involve invite the entire community
• Involve students, make them part of the
  processbribe them if you must (food)
• Not only during election season

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Bring policymakers to your school

• Bring them to classrooms, especially
  discretionary classes arts, computer lab,
  foreign language class
• Let them eat lunch
• Visit the school clinic
• Ride the bus
• Have them present a state flag
• Be a janitor/teacher/principal for a day

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Bring the school to the policymakers

• 5th (or any) Grade essay contest
• Dress rehearsal for state mandated writing test
• Topic of interest (hot issue) to kids
  legislators
• Private meetings with legislators
• Special tour of Capitol and chambers
• Crossover Day/Day 39/Sine die Survival Kit
• Paper lunch bag decorated by students
• Use school nutrition program items
• Note from kids note from PTA

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Gimmicks, gimmes gotcha

• Apple-grams
• Tongue depressors
• Nutter Butters
• IDEA glasses
• Research an issue paper from local teachers,
  parents and students NCLB The View from the
  Front of the Classroom
• PTA Flag Pin
• Georgia PTA 100 Year History Book signed by the
  Georgia PTA President!
• Voucher white paper
• Hugs Kissesthe chocolate kind of course!

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Stay in touch with your elected officials

• By e-mail, phone, notes
• Thank them every time for their service, whether
  you agree with them or not!
• Visit them at their local offices
• Get to know their staffers aides by name, and
  keep the gatekeepers sweet
• Keep an elevator speech prepared at all times,
  you never know when, or where, you may run into
  an elected official!

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Q A and share

• Thank you for your attention and participation.
• Now let us go have some serious fun advocating
  for our kids, our community our public schools!

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Finally