Most of us consider ADVOCACY to be one of the four major functions of boardsmanship (along with VISION, STRUCTURE and ACCOUNTABILITY). But what exactly does ADVOCACY mean? And how does one become a successful advocate?

In basic definitions, "to advocate" means "to support" or "to plead in favor of." Thus, an advocate in the original sense was a legal counselor: one who pleads the cause of another. I recall (barely) a wonderful Sunday afternoon television show called "The Advocates" in which well-known individuals argued topical issues in a quasi-legal setting. The show starred Michael Dukakis. (Remember him?) My own involvement as an "advocate" began in high school debate class. That type of ADVOCACY was the simplest form: you made your case, rebutted your opponent's, then a judge determined who won. That type of ADVOCACY training didn't prepare me for the most common arguments of that period of life: with parents. I always lost (since they were both advocate and judge). ADVOCACY in "the court of public opinion" is much more obtuse, in that winning or losing are seldom obvious.

While there are the occasional finalities of running an election campaign or trying to pass a bill through the Legislature, most ADVOCACY by school directors is aimed at such magnanimous-yet-murky missions as being "for the kids." Successful ADVOCACY in the public sector is most often confined to the gradual shifting of opinion, be it individual or the collective "public" opinion. Seldom have we the chance to prove conclusively that "We're right and they're wrong." (With apologies to James Carville.)

Because of this slow developing process, ADVOCACY for school directors can be likened to the gentle art of persuasion, which takes both time and patience. So, how does ADVOCACY occur in the life of a school board member? What and where are the venues? And how can you be most successful? ADVOCACY occurs throughout the tenure of a school director. The venues are:

1. Within the district;
2. Within the local community;
3. At the state level, usually the Legislature; and
4. At the federal level, most often in Congress.

ADVOCACY IN YOUR DISTRICT

In any attempt to advocate, one must first determine the policy position you are trying to put forth. Then you determine your audience, or whom you are trying to convince. Within your school district, that audience can be your fellow board members, the district superintendent, other district staff or the audience at a board meeting.

Fellow Board Members.

For any director to be successful on board issues, you first need the support of at least two other board members. School directors have no individual authority. Your power lies only in collective actions of the entire board.

So ADVOCACY, or persuasion, begins within one-on-one discussions with four other elected officials. Let them know your personal goals, your reasons for joining the board. Then, learn theirs. Your collective goals may not be the same, but neither might they be inconsistent. Develop collaboration. Allow the other board members to "win" occasionally, thus fostering the possibilities to achieve your own priorities. Don't try to win everything, or you'll win nothing. Have some patience.

The Superintendent.

The board sets the policy, but the appointed superintendent administers the district. New board members should meet with the superintendent often; again, share your goals and priorities. Good superintendents want to make their boards happy... if you let them.

District Staff.

It is a misperception that directors should not mingle with staff. Their jobs are theirs, and yours are yours; but that doesn't mean that you cannot learn from one another. Again, state your goals and priorities, but realize that while you have no individual authorities, your spoken words and deeds become the topic of coffee break chats at every building in the district almost instantly.

Developing a sense of trust is your responsibility. Staff members will share their knowledge and ideas when they know that board members aren't searching for dirt. Beware, however: some are naturally inclined to seek your favor, by any means. Dissention within the board is often the result, if not the intent.

Board Meeting Audience.

While most board meetings are attended only by a few staff, all audiences are the same: they examine your every move and your every spoken word. Remind people (again) why you are there. Seek input; don't preach. The professionals know more about education than do you. The laypersons in the audience are there for their own special purpose; be attentive to their wishes, but don't commit too quickly. Trying to please your audiences creates short-term rewards and long-term inconsistencies which erode your ability to become a successful advocate. Always choose your words with care (especially if media representatives are present).

You are a member of the school board, not just another opinionated citizen. In-district ADVOCACY is informal. The building of trust, the building of interpersonal relationships and the acquiring of knowledge will result in success. But it will be gradual, and therefore, frustrating. It requires patience. While most techniques to assist school directors to improve their in-district ADVOCACY skills are matters of common sense and courtesy, WSSDA does provide workshops which allow new directors to anticipate solutions and develop strategies. These workshops may occur within your district, within your region (especially if your area has a county school directors association), or at the Association's Annual Conference.

ADVOCACY IN YOUR COMMUNITY

The building of coalitions, especially with other elected officials, is the cornerstone of successful community ADVOCACY. Public schools do not operate in isolation. Actions of the city council, the county commissioners, the parks and recreation departments can affect children and schools.

Governmental decisions regarding growth management, the location of sidewalks or bike paths, the approval of new housing developments, or water systems, or tele-cable access, or bus routes or play fields; all these decisions can affect your schools. Successful school boards become involved in these decisions in order to coordinate planning. Nothing offends taxpayers more than insulated governmental decisions resulting in duplicated efforts and wasted taxpayer dollars. A few suggestions:

• Hold an annual joint meeting with your city council, perhaps informally, to discuss common issues (the use of play fields, coordinated bus routes, bicycle paths along major roads with schools nearby).
• Meet occasionally with the county commission, to discuss growth management (they might be in the process of approving a new housing development in one area of your district, while your board is seeking property for a new school . . . on the other side of town!).
• Discuss whether selected members of your board or senior staff should regularly attend and participate in the local Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. Share and seek information and perspectives regularly.
• Send your district's newsletter to all citizens, not just parents (and not just registered voters!).
• Meet regularly with the newspaper editor or editorial board, not just when you want to complain or receive their support.

Community alliances demonstrate to taxpayers that their elected officials do not operate in a vacuum. Such alliances or regular meetings also allow for personal relations to develop. These relationships are invaluable, both when you need public support from outside the school district (for your levy or for anything controversial) and when you may need personal support from community public opinion leaders (when your board is accused of doing anything inappropriate or unpopular).

I am always reminded of President Jimmy Carter's roller coaster ride in Washington, D.C. As a presidential candidate campaigning as an "outsider" he was very popular; after being elected, however, and when his popularity declined, none of the D.C. "insiders" came to his rescue. He was perceived as a loner who operated in a vacuum. He lost.

In addition to workshops, WSSDA produces a nationally-acclaimed publication, On Call, which provides numerous tips regarding coalition building within your non-school community. Coalition building and ADVOCACY go hand in hand. But they require tedious work and patience.

ADVOCACY AT THE STATE LEVEL

Normally when we think of ADVOCACY we think of the state Legislature, and rightly so. Since the 1976 "Doran decision" and the subsequent 1977 Basic Education Act, the State of Washington has provided about 80 percent of school districts budgets. K-12 education is the state's "paramount duty" according to Article IX, Section 1, of our state's constitution. And that paramount duty includes more than just providing dollars; it also means determining how the public school system is organized and operated. This often means rules, regulations and paperwork. While the cynic might refer to this as the Golden Rule ("he who has the gold sets the rules"), it is entirely appropriate for the state to establish a degree of uniformity and direction in how our 296 school districts spend over $4 billion annually in state-approved tax dollars. It's state-level accountability. (A fair comparison is the relationship between your local board and your buildings' Student Learning Improvement Teams, or "site councils;" they seek autonomy, but your board must establish some parameters in order to be accountable to your local taxpayers and voters.) So our job is to "lobby" the Legislature. We ADVOCATE for quality schools statewide, with emphasis on our own local districts. WSSDA's process of consensus-building, prioritization and "lobbying" (which together form ADVOCACY) is as follows:

Legislative Representatives. Each school board in the state selects one of its members to be its Legislative Representative (LR). We recommend that those designations occur in the summer of even-numbered years and that the tenure of the LR is two years; in that manner the LR can follow an entire legislative cycle, from the elections through both subsequent annual state legislative sessions and from the development of our proposals through those sessions when they pass or fail. The primary job of the LR is to coordinate district legislative activities and keep the rest of the board apprised as issues develop.

Legislative Committee. At each Annual Conference school directors elect WSSDA's Legislative Committee. This 25-member committee is comprised of two members from each of the state's eleven director areas (four from the very populated Director Area II) plus the Association's current first vice president. Members are elected by and within their director areas. The committee selects its own chairman. This committee then solicits "legislative proposals," or ideas as to how to improve educational laws and funding, from every school board. The Committee analyzes those proposals, adds some of its own, then makes recommendations for the Legislative Assembly and ultimately the Board of Directors.

Legislative Assembly. Each fall the LRs from each school district meet in Assembly to debate and vote upon the many proposals submitted through the Legislative Committee. LRs recommend the highest priorities for each year; those priorities are then finalized by the Committee and the Board of Directors. This Assembly sets WSSDA's annual legislative ADVOCACY program.

Legislative Conference. Each February, during the state Legislature, LRs again gather in Olympia (with representatives of WASA, the school districts' administrators) to be briefed on how their legislative priorities are faring and to meet with legislators from their home districts. This face-to-face "lobbying" gives school directors an opportunity to ADVOCATE during the heat of the legislative session.

Communications. During the legislative sessions WSSDA publishes a weekly newsletter, Impact, which keeps LRs apprised of immediate legislative developments. LRs should share Impact with their boards as a regular part of the meeting agenda. Impact is also mailed to legislators and is the best-read weekly educational journal in the Legislature. Impact is also available on WSSDA's web site under the link to "Legislative and Governmental Issues". 

Post-session. When the Legislature adjourns, WSSDA publishes a "Legislative Summary" describing and explaining which bills passed or failed, together with the effects of the state's budget on districts. Session summaries are often presented via inter-connective video, usually in collaboration with SPI and the other K-12 organizations. Often we also schedule 10-12 regional meetings to discuss the legislative actions in more detail. After bills are passed by the Legislature, state agencies (usually SPI or the State Board of Education) are directed to adopt rules to implement the new laws. WSSDA works closely with those agencies to assure that regulations are consistent with legislative intent and are no more onerous than necessary. Agencies often establish ad hoc committees to assist in the rule-making process (or to study major issues).

WSSDA's Liaison Service attempts to have school board members appointed to those committees by matching their duties with directors who have expressed interests in those pertinent educational issues. Once new rules are adopted, WSSDA informs districts of changes via its Policy Development Service and Policy News, so that school districts' local policies are kept immediately up-to-date. It is also noteworthy that WSSDA's ADVOCACY efforts are not conducted alone. We form coalitions whenever possible. The "Winecellar Group" is a loosely-knit collection of individuals who work for the different K-12 organizations and agencies and spend their professional lives testifying (or "lobbying") in the Legislature. They attempt to share information and work in concert on those matters of collective concern.

The Educational Leadership Team (the leaders of WSSDA, WASA and AWSP) also meets regularly to discuss joint interests, as does the Education Roundtable, which is composed of representatives of nearly all K-12 groups and is chaired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

ADVOCACY AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL

Although the federal government provides only 4-6 percent of school districts' budgets, the actions of Congress (and of various federal agencies) affect you locally in ways other than your budgets. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is composed of the many state-level associations such as WSSDA. NSBA lobbies the Congress and its agencies as WSSDA similarly does the state Legislature.

A Federal Relations Network (FRN) has been established to provide a more personal touch to this federal ADVOCACY effort. Washington state's FRN is comprised of 40-50 school directors from across the state. Each Congressional district has a "coordinating member" appointed by the WSSDA president-elect, together with the Association's elected leadership and other directors interested in federal issues. The members select their chair, who serves a two-year term coincidental with the terms of our congressional delegation. The FRN receives regular communications from NSBA regarding congressional activities, often with requests to provide your local congressman with ADVOCACY letters or information from your area, designed to assist him/her in their decision-making process. Once a year the FRN travels to Washington D.C. to meet with colleagues from the other states and to meet directly with members of our congressional delegation on educational matters of common national interest.

ADVOCACY in Congress can be more frustrating than most other forms of public persuasion, but it is not without its rewards. Members of FRN represent all school directors in the state and they take great pride in their abilities to convince our D.C. delegation that educational success in Washington state is more important than political success in Washington D.C.

CONCLUSION

Actually, there is no "conclusion" to public sector ADVOCACY. It is continuous.

You may have noticed that the words "tedious," "frustration" and "patience" have been used regularly throughout this article. That is intentional. It is also appropriate. As noted earlier, ADVOCACY in the public education sector seldom grants the benefit of immediate gratification. The "gentle art of persuasion" is built upon creating good personal relationships, which are absolutely necessary for the development of trust. And relationships often take time . . . and patience . . . especially with elected officials who are so very busy. But once that trust is developed, it never ceases (unless, of course, it is doomed by dishonesty: never, ever lie to elected officials).

How important is ADVOCACY?

I answer that question in three ways, none of which is meant to be sarcastic:

• People simply cannot be expected to make good decisions without the information to make those decisions and the arguments to sustain them. You have the information. Share it . . . persuasively.
• Without the "release" of ADVOCACY, most of us would be sitting at home complaining. What is more healthy: complaining or trying to do something about it?
• ADVOCATES are almost always paid better than those whose opinions they attempt to influence. (Unfortunately, the "almost" applies to unpaid school directors.) This suggests the importance of ADVOCACY.

ADVOCACY. It's integral to the job of being on the school board. You are an advocate whether you know it or not. The purpose of this publication is to provide ideas as to how you might become a more successful advocate, whether within your district, in your community, at the state level or in Washington D.C. Your state Association, WSSDA, takes ADVOCACY seriously. Its officers, members and staff can assist in your success. Please contact us.