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Guidelines for Advocacy

Recent policy decisions affecting adult literacy and Even Start funding and policy have demonstrated the importance of making one's voice heard by decision-makers at the national and state level. But if you are a practitioner in a government-funded program, what kind of advocacy activity is appropriate and effective, and what can get you in hot water?

Our thanks to Kathi Polis, former state director of adult education in West Virginia and EFF Facilitator, currently President of Strategic Training and Resources, Inc. in Mason, WV. Polis originally developed and shared this information with National LINCS' EFF Facilitators' listserv. With her permission and a few minor modifications, here are Ms. Polis' tips.

DO

• Build a strong relationship with staff members. Find out which assistants cover adult education.
• Arrange a face-to-face meeting with your Legislator and/or education staff member.
• If you can't meet with them, call them to arrange a phone conversation. Precede phone conversation with a letter outlining the main points of your discussion.
• Invite them to visit local programs.
• Thank them for their support.
• Educate them about the impact you have made with the resources provided.
• Use your personal letterhead, personal email accounts, personal time, and personal phones or calling cards when communicating about pending or proposed legislation and/or funding requests.

DON'T

• Use any state or federally funded resources to communicate with legislator or staff and/or to encourage others to communicate with respect to legislation. (e.g.: your own time while "on the clock" in a state/federally funded position, program email accounts, program letterhead, program telephone, email discussion groups or "listservs" hosted by LINCS* or TCALL**)
• Assume he/she has read something.
• Send form letters; customize them to your state.
• Cover more than one subject in a contact.
• Write a letter longer than 1 - 1 ½ pages.
• Distort the facts. If you don't know something, get back to them with the correct information.

For more in-depth information and advocacy opportunities, here are some websites you might want to visit:

National Coalition for Literacy. The American Association for Adult and Continuing Education, ProLiteracy Worldwide, National Center for Family Literacy, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, and Commission on Adult Basic Education are just a few of the dozens of groups making up this coalition, which meets quarterly to plan strategy for advancement of literacy in the United States. At NCL's website, you can learn about their policy initiatives, make a tax deductible contribution, and obtain information on membership. You can also subscribe to the NCL Update email list to receive federal literacy policy updates and other national information on adult literacy and recommended grassroots advocacy action sanctioned by the voting members of the National Coalition for Literacy. http://www.national-coalition-literacy.org/

AAACE-NLA - National Literacy Advocacy List. The American Association for Adult and Continuing Education hosts this email discussion list to provide subscribers with information about national issues that affect adult literacy/basic/secondary education and English for Speakers of Other Languages legislation, policy, and funding. Unlike the NCL Update email list, which is for posting of bulletins by NCL only, the AAACE-NLA list is open for discussion among subscribers. http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla.

Advocacy Kit: Tools for Education Activists. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development offers advice on working with policy-makers and the media, setting up community forums and media events, and a glossary of legislative and media terms. http://www.ascd.org/.

Communicating with Policy-makers. The Texas Association of School Boards hosts a site offering advice on advocacy strategy, making personal visits to policy-makers, testifying, writing to legislators, and more. http://www.tasb.org/.