Are you an advocate? Have you ever attended a school board meeting about healthy alternatives in the lunchroom or budget cuts? Have you written a letter to the editor about how standardized testing affects your child? If you speak up for improving the school community, then you’re an advocate! Learn more at
www.pta.org/advocacy.
Quick Guide to Advocacy
Overview
PTA was created to improve the lives of all children. For more than a century, this organization has provided families and advocates for children with the support, information, and resources they’ve needed to focus on the health and education of America’s youth. With the support of advocates, kindergarten classes, child labor laws, a public health service, hot lunch programs, a juvenile justice system, and mandatory immunization have all become well established in this country.
What Is Advocacy?
PTA defines advocacy as supporting and speaking up for children— in schools, in communities, and before governmental bodies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children. Much of what your local PTA does now to improve the school community can be considered advocacy.Examples of PTA members advocating include:
• Speaking to a teacher about academic performance,
• Calling another parent to discuss school safety concerns,
• Attending a school district meeting about healthy alternatives in the lunch room or budget cuts,
• Working with school officials to achieve PTA Parent Involvement Certification, and
• Writing a letter to the editor about how standardized tests affect your child.
Advocacy Tips
Meeting with decision makers for the first time might seem intimidating, but no one is more qualified than you to talk about the issues affecting your child. When you are concerned about something happening in your child’s classroom, speak with the teacher. Schoolwide issues, such as concerns about playground safety, can be brought to the principal. If an issue reaches further, however, it is better to organize and work with others who share your concerns.