Superintendent as Advocate

When it comes to advocacy, one must start with a definition.

An advocate is, according to my Merriam Webster dictionary, someone who supports a given cause or policy. An obvious example of an advocate within AASA would be the association’s policy and advocacy department, where Sasha Pudelski, Leslie Finnan and I are employed to “geek out” on federal education policy.

More generally, though, recognize the work of advocacy is wrapped into the multiple roles accompanying the job of the school superintendency. The moment a superintendent champions a specific school policy or a curriculum plan, that decision and the ensuing effort to translate it into reality is advocacy in its purest form.

Tracking Activity

At the federal level, the AASA policy and advocacy team handles the day-to-day work that ensures the voice and priorities of the nation’s public school superintendents are reflected in federal policy discussions, from White House proposals and national initiatives to federal regulations and congressional legislation. If the federal government is proposing or considering a policy related to public education, the odds are high that AASA is tracking the action.

In similar fashion, superintendents advocate to parents, teachers, school district staff, school board members, the community, local leaders, state officials and their congressional delegation.

Our voices work in tandem. While I have great faith in the work our team does, the voice of the superintendent is worth its weight in gold. When members of Congress (or their staff members) hear the perspectives and priorities of their constituents — and then realize the national association staff is echoing similar sentiments — it elevates the potential impact of the superintendents’ voices.

On a more personal level, the reality of superintendent as advocate is glaringly simple. No one is better positioned to tell the story of your school district than you, the superintendent of the local schools. No one can better articulate the district’s successes and obstacles and how the federal policies and regulations — actual or proposed — will ameliorate or further compound something related to teaching and learning.

Redefining Ready

One superintendent taking an active role in federal advocacy is David Schuler, superintendent of Township District 214, Arlington Heights, Ill., and AASA’s immediate past president. He exemplifies this work through his thoughtful and continued advocacy of AASA’s Redefining Ready! campaign to redefine what it means to be ready for postsecondary success.

At the local level, Schuler and his board of education have adopted the Redefining Ready! metrics in their district and have asked local elected officials and municipalities to endorse this effort. He uses #RedefiningReady on social media to highlight and comment on stories that illustrate the need for change and gives presentations throughout Illinois to garner support.

At the national level, he has testified before Congress and spoken in more than 30 states to rally members and educational leaders to consider implementing the Redefining Ready! metrics in their districts and state ESSA implementation plans.

Schuler has worked with his colleagues across the country to ensure October is recognized as Redefining Ready! month as a way for all of us working at the local, state and national levels to share why the need to redefine readiness is so important to the future of our country.

It is critical for superintendents to find time to rise above the day-to-day minutiae that can consume the role of superintendents and focus on influencing the systems that have a direct impact on their communities.

Timely Feedback

In a day and age when elected officials, especially those in Congress, rely on a back-pocket anecdote to stake a position, why not have your school or district and your approach to supporting needy students or assessing student outcomes serve as the basis of an initiative highlighted by a member of Congress?

The other reality is that, for better or worse, these elected officials will take votes whether or not they hear from constituents working in the public schools. Taking the time to weigh in ensures that the policymakers are hearing directly from the school system leaders responsible for implementing the policies they are crafting. When they hear directly from those working in the field, it gives senators and House members a better shot at advancing a policy that makes sense in support of public education’s needs.

During a time when education policy decisions are increasingly being pushed down from the federal to state and local levels, the input provided by those who direct state leadership associations and lead school districts is critical. This feedback affirms the decisions Congress is making and informs how they craft these measures. Sharing comments on how prescriptive laws or regulations should be, on which stakeholder groups policymakers should engage with, and how to build in flexibility can increase the potential passage of legislation favorable to public school interests.

Practical Measures

So what does advocacy in K-12 education look like? Here are some practical things to consider as you develop your advocacy efforts.

• Use your member benefits.

Membership in AASA, as well as your state association, brings with it advocacy benefits. Rely on our advocacy team to support your legislative and policy efforts. It is our job to know the specifics, to read the details and to translate the information into usable resources to support your advocacy at the federal level.

Whatever the topic, never hesitate to reach out to your professional leadership organizations for a summary of a proposal and for talking points to use when responding to elected officials. At AASA, we can provide the relevant information that you can use as a starting point, eliminating the administrative work associated with advocacy.

AASA members regularly ask the advocacy team to provide PowerPoint slides about a specific federal policy or to generate an overview or update they can share with their school board, their state association or another community group.

• Consider advocacy a marathon, not a sprint.

Advocacy is content and context. When you are looking to advance an initiative with your school board, do you share all of the related information with the new board member the night before the vote or do you communicate early and often?

It’s likely the latter route because information sharing alone is not enough. The details and the data need to be brought to life in a way that animates what the proposed policy will mean, what it will look like and how it will impact students. And the best way to relay those messages in a manner that sticks over time is through relationship building.

ESSA was an effort eight years in the making. By maintaining a steady drumbeat of policy priorities to be incorporated in the final text of an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the voice of superintendents created consistent, national pressure and momentum.

• Message matters.

As a district administrator, you are on the receiving end of advocacy messages. Your community, parents and staff regularly contact you with requests. Think about the feedback you receive and what you find most helpful. You likely have someone in your district who is Pollyanna from Lake Wobegone, where everybody is always above average. And you likely work with someone who is Chicken Little, for whom the sky falls seven times a day. And perhaps you hear from someone who weighs in with candor, delivering the good along with the bad and the ugly.

When it comes time to solicit feedback, whom are you inclined to contact — Pollyanna? Chicken Little? Or Mr./Ms. Candor? To the extent that one type of feedback (advocacy!) is most helpful to you in your leadership decision, consider using a similar approach in your advocacy to policymakers.

At the height of the recession and sequester cuts a few years back, the Committee for Education Funding (AASA sits on the board) conducted a campaign on Capitol Hill where we delivered snack bags of cookie crumbs to the offices of congressional appropriators with the message “Schools deserve more than the crumbs of federal funding. Education cuts don’t heal.” It was a message that resonated loudly.

• As simple as 15 minutes a month.

Pick one day per week and set a five-minute calendar item. During this weekly appointment, contact a member of Congress. For example, on the first Tuesday of the month, e-mail your senator. On the second Tuesday, contact your House representative. On the third Tuesday, connect with your state’s second senator. And on the final Tuesday, you can rest because you will have made contact with your entire congressional delegation.

This monthly approach is frequent enough that you become a familiar name and contact, but not too frequent.