Speaking up for our school districts and our children

I joined 700 school board members across the nation in Washington D.C. on Jan. 27, 28 and 29 as a member of the Federal Relations Network of the National School Boards Association. The purpose of our visit to Washington was to lobby our senators and House representatives on glaring issues that confront public education.

Being a “newbie” to lobbying, I joined other newly appointed advocates attending workshops, watching “how to advocate” videos, and conferring with seasoned volunteers who have lobbied Congress in the past. When the big day came for me to go to Capitol Hill, I was more than a little nervous. The day started with the New York delegation being invited for a business breakfast with Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both of whom have shown their support in the past for public education. After meeting with them for an hour, I was on my way to track down our newest representative, Gregory Meeks, who has replaced Carolyn McCarthy in a byzantine redistricting plan that divides our area between the two.

Walking through the halls was a lesson in high school civics for me. Suddenly I realized I was falling prey to exactly what my tutors had warned me about for two days: I was becoming star struck as I passed by doors that read Maxine Waters, Stenny Hoyer, John Boehner, Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi, to name a few. Here were household names, names that appear in the papers and on the nightly news. It didn’t take long for my mentor for the day to bring me back to reality and remind me why I was there: to aggressively advocate the “stars” on issues of importance to our children.

Here are the concerns that caused us to descend on Washington en masse as advocates:

Federal sequestration. Sequestration will cost school districts across the country $3 billion in federal aid if the president and Congress can’t reach a budget deal.