A regular reader who identifies himself as GregB has sound advice about how to advocate for your schools. His advice is similar to what is suggested by the Indivisibles. I would add that you can amplify your voice by joining the Network for Public Education. We exist to connect people to other activists in their community and state. Be informed. Participate. Work with allies.

GregB writes:

“For whatever its worth, I’ve worked as a legislative staffer, have organized and implemented grassroots advocacy campaigns in education, medical research, and health regulatory issues and Lloyd is far closer to the truth than Ed will ever be.

“First, phone calls are generally useless. Your call goes to young staffer–an intern or someone who has their first job–who literally take calls on every issue under the sun. They have no clue what people are calling about, take for/against tallies that few people pay attention to, and generally will answer you with something to the effect of: “I’ll be sure to pass your views on the senator/congressman.” The exception to the rule is when an issue becomes so big that it clogs up the phone lines, something like a Supreme Court nomination or a big issue that dominates the headlines and evening news. But it is aggregate numbers that matter, not individual messages. If you think your calls are being taken seriously, then you may as well agree with the argument that Hillary Clinton only won the popular vote because of widespread voter fraud.

“Second, emails are generally the same as phone calls, the only difference being that the computer algorithms generate pre-approved responses (if you are for the issue, you get one response, if you are against it, you get another). Occasionally when there are more than one issue addressed or nuances that don’t fit the algorithms, the message goes to a legislative correspondent who then patches together pre-approved language into “personal response.”

“Third, snail mail letters are effective if the stars line up such as: the arguments in the letter are personal with relevant examples and emotion and it reaches the eyes of a sympathetic staffer. While that is sometimes effective, more often than not, you will get an equivocal response that ends with “your views will be important to me should this issue ever be considered on the floor of the Senate/House.” In other words, nothing.

“If you do not know the names of: a local staffer who deals with constituents on the issue areas you care about, a DC legislative assistant and the legislative correspondent who supports him or her, and, if you are lucky, the local staff director and DC legislative director or chief of staff, then you are not doing effective citizen lobbying. You must contact one in the local and one in the DC staff a minimum of twice a year. You must be specific about your issue and remind them of what you contacted them about previously. And to be very effective, you should coordinate with other constituents who are like minded. You should share your correspondence to the boss with them.

“You should also know what committee/subcommittee memberships your senator/congressman has. If education is your issues and your senator/representative is not on the authorizing or appropriating committee on the issues you care about, then it is very unlikely that your views will ever reach the level of the boss. If it does, the best you can hope for is for that senator/representative to sign on to “Dear Colleague” letters about specific issue, i.e., they become lobbyists of a sort who try to influence the committees of jurisdiction. And if you are a real effective citizen lobbyist, you should find out about those “Dear Colleague” letters and make the staffers aware of them. If they are on the right committees, the tips below are even more important.

“If you can’t get to DC, you should try to schedule visits with local staffers (so that they become your lobbyists to their DC counterparts) once or twice a year and also request visits with their bosses during congressional recess periods. Town hall meetings used to be incredibly effective when only a dozen or so people showed up. That dynamic has changed dramatically since polarization has set in.

“Letters to the editor are more effective than phone calls or letters. They are more effective if you’ve done relationship building with staffers; you can make them aware of the letters. I have often received notes from my reps responding to letters I’ve written.

“One last tip. Should you get paper responses from your senators/representatives with signatures, know that signature machines are used. They have separate templates with full signatures and first names, the latter to make it more “personal.” But know that the boss has never touched that letter. When you get short, hand-written notes, then you know you’ve actually reached your senator/representative.

“But please don’t be deluded into thinking that your occasional call or email is actually accomplishing somethings. If you’re not willing to do your homework, build relationships, and keep it up since there is regular staff turnover (meaning you have to start the process all over again) you’re not engaging in effective advocacy.”