This week I was informed about a national campaign directed at raising awareness about the need for a quality public education for all children. National and local events are being planned for Give Kids Good Schools Week, which is October 16-22. Through online resources and local activities, the Give Kids Good Schools campaign will encourage individuals to Learn, Vote, and Act on behalf of quality public education.
Visit the Give Kids Good Schools website to find out about events occurring in your area. A couple of pages that caught my eye include resources on what makes a quality public school and resources on voting and education policy.
If you are located in the Houston area, you may also visit the Houston A+ Challenge website to learn more about their planned campaign activities.
In the resources packet that I received, I found the following information on one of the flyers:
Top 10 Questions for Elected Officials
Elected officials are responsible for many important decisions that impact public education. Below are the top 10 questions you can ask to learn where they stand on critical issues that impact all public schools.
1) What are your top priorities for improving public education?
2) What will you do to improve the quality of public schools?
3) What is your plan to provide adequate funding for all public schools?
4) How will you support the goal of high achievement for every student?
5) How will you engage the community, and help schools engage the community, to improve our public schools?
6) What do you believe schools should do to better prepare students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in higher educaiton, work, and life?
7) What do you believe are the best ways to evaluate school and student performance?
What is your position on the federal No Child Left Behind Act?
9) How would you help schools recruit and retain highly qualified teachers?
10) What resources and services, beyond academics, do you believe schools and the community should provide to support student well-being and achievement?
I believe it’s time for everyone to stop for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, and start asking these questions (and more) of our political candidates over the next few weeks before we head to the ballot box and cast our votes. I fear that too many voters will simply be reacting to the fallout of the recent political scandals — rather than casting thoughtful and informed votes for leaders who will make proper and forwarding-thinking decisions for our children and our future. Hopefully I am wrong.
The information packet also contained some guidelines on how we can use these questions:
How can you use and get answers to these and other questions? There are a number of ways to communicate with elected officials and candidates to learn where they stand on important social issues liek public education. Here are just a few:
1) Attend a public meeting. Bring these and other questions to a local debate, forum or town hall meeting where elected officials and candidates are present.
2) Send a letter or email. Elected officials want to hear from their constituents, and mail is still one of the most popular ways to make your voice heard. Use these questions as the basis of a letter to your elected official and encourage others to do the same. Save a copy for yourself and follow-up with a phone call.
3) Write your local paper. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, and ask to include these questions in interviews with elected officials and candidates. Thank your paper for covering the critical issues, like public eduation, that the community cares about.
4) Use the Web. Many elected officials and candidates have official websites that post information about their priorities and allow constituents to submit inquiries via email. Use these questions in an email to your elected officials and candidates.
5) Talk with your neighbors. Bring these questions to a community meeting or other public gathering. Discussions around these questions can help stimulate ongoing dialogue about what the community wants and expects from public schools.
Essentially — spread the word and start/continue the dialogue around the issues that really matter for our future.
For much more information and additional resources from Give Kids Good Schools, please visit their website.
Change Agency by Stephanie Sandifer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. You may copy, distribute, transmit and/or remix this content for noncommercial uses as long as you attribute the work to Stephanie Sandifer (with link back to the original post) and agree to license the work under the same or similar license.
