As a school board member, advocating on behalf of Texas public schoolchildren and engaging the community in support of public education is one of the essential responsibilities outlined in the state’s Framework for School Board Development.
As an elected official, your voice amplifies the needs of those you serve — public school students, parents, families, taxpayers — and carries weight with your community as well as with policymakers and legislators. State lawmakers and their staff often appreciate hearing from school board members who have local insights and expertise about how potential legislation would affect their districts and their communities.
A Toolkit for Community Advocacy
It’s up to you and your board to speak out about the importance of public education in building a stronger future for the state by graduating students well-equipped for college, careers, and the military.
Beyond communicating with state and federal officials, your greatest opportunity to advocate for public education is at the local level where you have the opportunity to listen, collaborate, and influence positive and productive changes to strengthen public education.
Consider following these steps to involve your community in the advocacy process so you can become a highly effective advocate for enhanced student achievement:
- Understand your community.
- Identify stakeholders, advocates, and key influencers.
- Share school district information and develop priorities.
- Train program participants to advocate.
- Mobilize program participants locally and at the Capitol.
- Celebrate advocate engagement and wins.
- Continue building advocate influence.
Log in to view TASB’s Toolkit for Community Advocacy for the details on all of these steps and to access helpful resources and activities from that toolkit.
A Toolkit for Community Advocacy
Access TASB's innovative step-by-step guide to building community support for public education through collaborative and engaging activities.
Community Advocacy Toolkit Resources
Extend your learning with this collection of additional resources, designed to support the Toolkit for Community Advocacy. Check back often for updates.
Community Advocacy Toolkit Activities
Download the activities from Community Advocacy toolkit.
How TASB Can Help
TASB offers both its members and the larger community many tools and resources to advocate in support of public education.
Depending on your specific needs, we encourage you to explore the different ways to grow as an advocate and share your support for public education.
- What is the TASB Advocacy Agenda? : Learn about the grassroots process created by Texas school board members to advocate for public school at the state Capitol and beyond.
- Capitol Watch: Join hundreds of school leaders across the state in influencing key policymakers. SBAN alerts provide everything you need to make a difference and you will stay informed with bill summaries, committee meeting information, and news on the latest developments in public education with the Legislative Report.
- Texans for Strong Public Schools: Share this site with your community so they can stay informed about legislative developments and actions they can take to ensure their voice is heard by lawmakers.