Myth Making in Legislative Advocacy

Six Misconceptions Superintendents Have About Working with Legislators and How to Overcome Them

When I agreed to become legislative chair for the Texas Association of School Administrators, I did not realize that a rewrite of the entire education code for the state would occur during my two-year tenure. As I worked with colleagues to craft a new state code, I experienced firsthand the reaction of school superintendents to the political process.

While the needs and opinions of Texas educators are as varied as the geography of the state itself, from Beaumont to the Panhandle I found superintendents shared some misconceptions or myths about working with the legislature to affect school legislation. These myths are probably not unique to Texas. Where they exist, these misconceptions prevent superintendents from working effectively to influence legislation on the state and national levels.

Dispelling Falsehoods

The myths I identified are damaging to education because they hinder a productive working relationship with elected officials. Eliminating these myths would strengthen both the legislative process and the quality of information available to legislators. In addition, superintendents, as the principal spokespersons for the entire K-12 educational process, would have greater impact.

Myth No. 1: When the legislature is not in session, educators have no reason to be involved.

This coming year, the Texas legislature will not be in session. Perhaps the same is true in your state. If so, then this is the year to get to know your legislators. Pick up the telephone and call their local offices for an appointment. Introduce yourself, thank him or her for hard work during the past legislative session. Talk about whatever makes you comfortable, and offer yourself as a source of information in the future.

You don't have to donate to a campaign. You don't have to pretend to have answers for every question you are asked. You can comfortably offer to "get back to them" because your legislators are not working under the time lines driven by the legislative session. It is important, however, that you produce the promised information.

You don't have to declare which party you belong to or how you voted in the last election. You do have to establish yourself as a dedicated, knowledgeable educator and as an approachable person who could be called for information in the future. While visiting your legislator's office, you probably will meet the legislative aide who works on education. Get to know him or her. This is a key person in your future relationships with your legislator.

If you don't meet the legislative aide, ask who the aide is. Write down the aide's name and telephone number. The aide is as important for you to know as the legislator. It is the aide who will be most readily available to you during the legislative session. It is the aide who will draft the language of bills and research topics for the legislator. Typically the aide will call you for your opinion.

In many instances, a single aide may be assigned to all subjects. If so, you can become an important resource for that individual. Contact the aide periodically so he or she will recognize your name. You want to demonstrate your interest. You want to be called on critical issues.

Electronic Contact

* Myth No. 2: A superintendent must spend a lot of time in the state capitol to have an impact on the legislative process.

If you are a superintendent who has taken the time to meet your legislator and his or her staff prior to the start of the legislative session, you do not need to spend a lot of time in the state capitol. You can have a powerful impact simply by using the telephone at your desk.

Remember that superintendents are visible and influential citizens in their communities. Politicians need the support of such community leaders. Never will you carry more political influence than you do with your locally elected state and federal legislators. You can exercise that influence by telephone or electronic mail as well as in person.

While a journey to the state capitol during the legislative session is optional, I recommend one or two trips if you can. They serve two purposes. First, no matter how unreal the political world seems to you as an outsider, it is very real to the politician who lives in it every day during a legislative session. You need to have some feel for the realities of the political world to give meaningful input.

Second, your state administrator organization may need your presence in support of a critical piece of legislation. By presence, I am not speaking about testifying. Not everyone can or wants to testify before a legislative committee.

Every legislative office maintains a sign-in sheet for visitors. Stop by the office to sign in. Your name will speak volumes. Legislators and their aides review sign-in sheets. During a session, they may check the sign-in book hourly to see who is in the capitol.

Leave your card with a brief note indicating your support or opposition to a particular piece of legislation; that may be all that is needed to change one vote. Once I even had a legislator come into the gallery looking for me when he noted from my sign-in that I was in the capitol. A critical vote was coming up and he wanted my opinion. Good politics for him; a great opportunity for me to give input!

Everyone Counts

* Myth No. 3: Only those senators and representatives who serve on the education committees have an impact on what happens to public schools.

I have heard superintendents indicate they didn't need to speak to their legislator because he or she wasn't on the education committee. This misconception has an obvious answer: Every legislator has one vote.

It is true that if your legislator is on either the Senate or House education committee, that legislator will have the ability to kill good ideas or support weak ideas as part of the committee process. In many instances, however, the deciding voice on a vote doesn't come from a member of the education committee. It comes from a legislator who had been convinced of the rightness of a position by an educator from his or her district. You want to be that educator.

Since you have made contact with your legislator, visited his or her office, and generally made yourself available to the office aide, chances are good you will be an influential voice in your legislator's decisions.

Influential Voice

* Myth No. 4: The state commissioner of education is a political figure with no real influence in the legislature.

This myth is particularly a dangerous one because it is partially true. In about two-thirds of the states, the state commissioners are appointed by either the governor or the state board of education. In the other third, chief state school officers are elected by popular vote. Whatever the selection process, the question always arises as to whether the commissioner is free to express his or her true opinions.

It is probably accurate to say that no commissioner is without some political loyalties that dictate positions. On the other hand, the commissioner is the recognized in-house expert for legislators on education matters. In addition, the commissioner is in the state capitol and "on call" when legislators want information. When the commissioner takes a position, it does make a difference.

An example of what a commissioner can do to influence legislation occurred during the last legislative session in Texas. The education committee was discussing contract termination for ineffective teachers. State Education Commissioner Mike Moses interrupted the proceedings to inform committee members that what they were hearing was misleading. He then outlined his experiences as a district superintendent who had tried to terminate the contract of an unacceptable teacher. The education committee members changed their position in line with his arguments.

The commissioner of education in every state speaks for you and me when we do not have a platform from which to speak. The commissioner is our voice and that's an influential position.

A Megaphone Effect

* Myth No. 5: Because the number of local board of education members greatly exceeds that of superintendents, board members have more impact on the legislature.

In Texas, school board members outnumber superintendents by a 7:1 ratio. Board members do not have seven times the political clout, however, because they don't "hold the microphone." Superintendents are recognized as the spokespersons for their school districts. Superintendents are public figures. Board members generally are not.

Because of their larger membership, school board associations often have more funds to expend on government relations than do superintendent organizations. Money provides personnel to research and track more legislation than the smaller staffs of most state superintendent organizations.

However, school board organizations lack immediate access to the recognized spokespersons for their school districts--the superintendents. This political fact is what makes the partnership of state school board and state superintendent organizations important to both groups. The school board organization may have the money and the personnel, but superintendents have the microphone.

Beyond Sincerity

* Myth No. 6: To be effective, you just have to be honest and sincere in your devotion to children.

This is a particularly dangerous myth. I assume that every superintendent is devoted to children, but I know every superintendent is not an effective voice for education in the political process. Being honest and sincere is not enough.

You cannot be a banker and avoid tallying a balance sheet, no matter how much you may dislike handling balance sheets. You cannot be a teacher and never discipline a student, no matter how much you may dislike disciplining students. I believe you can't be a superintendent and never become involved with politics, no matter how much you may dislike the political process.

Some superintendents say that politics is a "dirty business" and they don't want to get involved. This attitude implies legislators are dishonest. Yet many fine legislators are men and women of integrity. When you disparage the process that is part of their working world, you offer a direct affront to them as honest and sincere citizens who are giving enormous time and energy to the democracy of your state and this nation.

If all that was needed for effective advocacy were honesty and sincerity, state organizations wouldn't need a legislative staff. It is the combination of dedication to education and political savvy that creates the most powerful force for children. It is a combination of politically astute individuals who understand the political process working in tandem with dedicated educators that creates a winning team. You can't be part of a winning team if you believe that part of your team is engaged in "dirty" business.

As public school superintendents, you and I are key players in shaping the future of America. We are planting the grassroots of tomorrow. By virtue of our job, we hold the microphone and speak for thousands of children. We have no choice. We must become involved in the political process and we must do it in a way that guarantees we will be heard.

COPYRIGHT 1996 American Association of School Administrators
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group