Refining WSSDA’s Advocacy Platform: An Exercise in Spring Cleaning

April 1-20, school directors are invited to “spruce up” WSSDA’s legislative and permanent positions. Together, the positions form WSSDA’s advocacy platform. To keep the platform relevant and effective, all school board members are encouraged to first review WSSDA’s positions before recommending revisions or additions to the platform.

What’s the process?

Currently, WSSDA has 239 positions that have been adopted by its membership, which consists of all 1,477 school directors statewide. When the window opens, WSSDA will give directors an online form to submit their recommendations, if they have any. The recommendations that emerge from the “spring cleaning” of positions are studied by WSSDA’s legislative and resolutions committees and then put in front of members for a vote at WSSDA’s General Assembly.

What to do now

The annual assembly is where school boards will vote to adopt or reject the proposed changes to WSSDA’s positions. But before that happens, school directors are encouraged to look at the positions now and ask the following questions as they work through March in preparation for the position window:

1. What positions already exist that connect to your board’s greatest interests?
2. What positions could be revised/updated to reflect your board’s interests, if needed?
3. What positions could be consolidated due to duplication?
4. What positions could be retired as they have been met or are no longer relevant?
5. Is there a need to propose a novel position to address an unaddressed issue?

The position window will open on April 1^st and close on April 20^th. School directors can look forward to more information as the window approaches. In the meantime, any questions may be directed to WSSDA’s strategic advocacy team via strategicadvocacy@wssda.org.