1. Fatima Cristerna-Adame
High Impact Local Advocacy: Moving the Needle Forward in Your Community
Amy Blumberg, MPA
Fatima Cristerna-Adame
Dr. Jason Jimenez
Courtney Miller
March 15, 2016

2. AGENDA Why Does Local Advocacy Matter?
Capitol Advocacy Leaders Program
Case Study
Local Advocacy Leaders Program
Tools You Can Use to Move the Needle Forward for Charters in Your Community

3. Local Advocacy All Politics are local RELATIONSHIPS are key
Life/death of charter schools start at local level
Elected officials care about their constituents & getting re-elected
School visits
Relationships -– build now, see how you can help them, ensure the relationship is in place when you need something
School visits -allow elected officials to visualize work of charter schools and helps charter leaders dispel myths – elected officials love stories that allow them to connect to issues

4. Advocacy in the field
Multi-faceted approach: Capitol, district, lobbyists, regional team, school leaders, CCSA Advocates
Capitol Advocacy Leaders (CAL) created to intentionally connect charter school leaders and their institutions to their legislators, building long-term, dynamic relationships that can be strategically deployed to mobilize by issue.
CAL Liaisons keep legislators informed and engaged and hold them accountable for their actions.

5. Outcomes
Launched in
Currently there are 104 school leaders established as “CAL Liaisons” who are paired with 94 legislators
CAL Liaisons are meeting with their legislative representatives, hosting school tours and attending community events on a regular basis
CALs are active at the State Capitol, too! A majority of CALs have attended Advocacy Day over the past two years, and that number continues to increase every year.
Liaisons testified in front of legislative and regulatory bodies as expert witnesses, held roundtable briefings with legislators, staff and other charter leaders
Liaisons participated in community demonstrations, holding legislators accountable for their actions
I think this is a good transition to the local piece. I can transition and introduce Miles: “Miles is going to talk about Advocacy at the local level. It is important to remember that although we are pairing each legislator with a school leaders in their district, that results in only 10% of our schools being represented. Our strength is in numbers, and legislators are loyal to their constituents, the voters in their district that put them in office and either keep them in office or vote them out.”

6. Case Study: AB 787
2015: AB 787 (Hernandez) would have required authorizers to appoint majority of charter school board members and ban for-profits from running charter schools
Massive opposition efforts by CAL, charter school movement included testimony, letters and phone calls, meetings
Most harmful provisions of AB 787 were gutted in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
Ban of for-profits running charter schools was left in bill and we tried to craft amendments acceptable to CCSA, author
Vetoed by Governor Brown

7. Local Advocacy Leaders
Started in 2015
Multi-faceted approach: regional team, school leaders, CCSA Advocates
Local Advocacy Leaders (LAL) created to intentionally connect charter school leaders and their institutions to their school and county board members, building long-term, dynamic relationships that can be strategically deployed to mobilize by issue.
LAL Liaisons keep school and county board members informed and engaged and hold them accountable for their actions at the local level.

8. Outcomes Launched in 2015 and modeled after our CAL program
Currently there are 10 school leaders established as “LAL Liaisons” and paired with 19 school and county board members (14 county and 7 district)
100% of first year LAL Liaisons attended program trainings
11 school visits by county or district board members to 8 different schools
2 County Board Members and 1 District Board Member attended training session with charter leaders to discuss the importance of local outreach
Visits by local board members has developed better working relationships with authorizers and staff
I think this is a good transition to the local piece. I can transition and introduce Miles: “Miles is going to talk about Advocacy at the local level. It is important to remember that although we are pairing each legislator with a school leaders in their district, that results in only 10% of our schools being represented. Our strength is in numbers, and legislators are loyal to their constituents, the voters in their district that put them in office and either keep them in office or vote them out.”

9. LAL Case Study: Desert Trails Preparatory
Desert Trails Preparatory up for renewal this year before a local school district.
Program rolled out in September
School leader participated in training and secured school visits by two County Board Members
DTP was denied renewal by local school district in December
School appealed the decision to the county board and was approved 3-2
Of the 3 board members who voted in favor of the school 2 of those 3 had visited the school
During the vote both members spoke about their support based on what they saw in the classrooms and not was on paper
The process allowed for board members to see the discrepancies between the “staff findings” and what actually takes place at schools

10. LAL Successes

12. Dr. Jason Jimenez Capitol Advocacy Leader and Local Advocacy Leader
Background
What is the key to your success?

13. Jason content

14. Jason content

15. Case Study: Richmond Promise
Parent Organizing in Action
Chevron in response to polluting community of Richmond for years with their refineries is paying for college for Richmond students
Richmond City Council asked West Contra Costa School Board for recommendations of how to distribute funds
Local school board recommendation did not include local charter public schools

16. Richmond Promise
Charter parents flooded City council meetings for weeks with signs and testimony
Lots of pressure on city council to treat ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS EQUALLY
WIN for Charter Schools – Richmond City Council changed their plan so that ALL public school students get college funding

17. Win for Kids!

18. Tools for Local Advocacy
Attend school board meetings
Request meetings with school board members
Invite elected officials for school visits
Letters in support of petitions/renewal
Organize large group of charter supporters at board meetings

19. CALL to ACTION SB 1434 (Glazer) Authorizing Accountability and Reform
Statewide and countywide benefit
Complaint process at State Board of Education for violations of charter school law, penalties up to revocation of authorizing authority
Expanded authorizers
Allow small school districts to opt out
Limit administrative fees to market value, complaint to County Board, excess fees and interest back to charter

20. SB 1434 (Glazer) continued
Requires school districts to issue findings when denying petition
Clarifies that petitions originating at county level can be appealed just like petitions that start at local school board
Write support letters, make phone calls, meetings with legislators, spread the word about bill via social media and with contacts

21. Advocacy Day 2016 Tuesday, May 3, 2016
FREE registration for CCSA members
Register today at the CCSA booth or online at
Deadline to register is April 15

22. Questions? Thank you for joining us! Amy Blumberg ablumberg@ccsa.org
Fatima Cristerna-Adame
Courtney Miller
Dr. Jason Jimenez