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  2. Take Your Legislator to School Month

Take Your Legislator to School Month

A relationship between public education advocates and the state legislature is critical to KASB’s mission of supporting student success. The Kansas Association of School Boards invites each school district in the state to invite at least one of its local lawmakers to visit their schools during the month of November.

Take Your Legislators to School Month Toolkit

Take Your Legislator to School Month provides your district the opportunity to connect with your local legislators and allows them to see the communities and students they impact with decisions and votes during the legislative session. To prepare for the 2022 legislative session, we encourage school board members and district leaders to discuss with legislators (1) how they are using COVID funding to recover from the pandemic and state funding to rebuild programs to support student success, (2) how they are focusing on the Kansans Can outcomes, and (3) expected issues for the upcoming legislative session. 

The KASB Advocacy Team is available to attend or assist in preparing materials and talking points.

    • Invite your legislators to a breakfast or lunch including a tour with school board members and district administration.
    • Invite a legislator to speak to a social studies class or student government meeting.
    • Ask your legislators to read to various elementary school classes.
    • Help the legislator decide what activities and topics would be appropriate for what age groups. Legislators may have received some suggestions from the clerks, but school staff might help them plan others.
    • Be sensitive to the fact that every school district may have multiple legislators. Be sure to invite all Legislators.
    • Stay alert to promising opportunities for photos. Sometimes that alone will be enough to attract newspaper or TV media coverage.
    • Gather a series of quote or thoughts on leadership and email them (one a week or more frequently) to all staff, tying it back to the work done by the school board.

  • To inform:

    • Facebook
      November is Take Your Legislators to School Month! Our Representative [name of Kansas House representative(s)] and Senator [name of Kansas Senator(s)] serve as ambassadors of our community in the Kansas Legislature. State Legislators support our best interests by introducing or supporting laws and amendments. Thank you to our lawmakers for keeping our schools and Kansas students in mind this month!
    • Twitter
      November is Take Your #KSLegToSchool Month! Thank you to our lawmakers for keeping our schools and Kansas students in mind this month.

     

    Announcing Legislators Visiting

    • Facebook
      [District name] is thrilled to host [Legislator name(s)] as we celebrate Take Your Legislator to School Month! Looking forward to strengthening our partnership as we help all Kansas students.
    • Twitter
      We are thrilled to host [legislator name(s) or Twitter handle] for #KSLegToSchool Month! Looking forward to strengthening our partnerships for all Kansas kids.

  • Sample Media Release Text

     

    Kansas Legislator to Visit [District Name] for Take Your Legislator to School Month

     

    (City, State) [Legislator(s) names] visits [District name] in honor of Take Your Legislator to School Month. This initiative sponsored by the Kansas Association of School Boards encourages strong partnerships between local Legislators and schools.

    We look forward to hosting [Legislator(s) name] at [district name] as we [describe the activity in which the Legislator will participate in].

    [Insert quote by the superintendent or Board President expressing excitement for their Legislator(s) visit]

    Our district enthusiastically supports civic engagement. We look forward to the opportunity to showcase our staff and students and strengthen our partnership with our Legislators to help Kansas kids.

    ###

  • Sample Invitation Text

    • Send to their legislative and regular email addresses

    Dear [Legislator name],

    [District name] invites you to our Take Your Legislator to School Month activity [name of activity] from [time to time]. Our district school board and staff would be honored to host you as we show our [activity highlights]. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to see any additional aspects of our district during your visit so we can coordinate. We look forward to our conversations and continued partnership in the service of our students.

    Best,

    [Superintendent and Board President name]

Download the Toolkit

Download our Take Your Legislator to School Month 2021 Toolkit pdf!