By Joe Wiegand

Local political activism is as American as apple pie, and there are many ways to learn all you need to know about organizing and executing successful political organizations.  While local organizations “may hold meetings, elect officers, and carry out various activities in support of their interests. Their most important activity, however, is gathering and disseminating accurate information about local public schools” (Education Consumers ClearingHouse).

Below is a list of suggestions and resources for achieving your goals.

1.  Obtain, build and maintain a list of like-minded local allies.  Based upon your school district boundaries, organizations like Family Taxpayers Network can supply you with a list of individuals in your area who have been involved.  Contact these people via phone, e-mail or letter and invite them to play a role in your local effort. 

2.  Hold a meeting to get your group started.  You can meet at a local restaurant or in someone’s home or office.  Have some refreshments, but make sure the meeting is well run, with an agenda and an agreed upon end time.  Your group may attract members or volunteers who really like to make speeches or take control of a meeting.  You’ll have to exercise some skill and tact to rein these types in without dampening their enthusiasm as a volunteer.

3.  Meet frequently at the beginning.    At first, your group of concerned citizens may want to meet frequently as you gear up, eventually settling into a monthly meeting format.  This monthly meeting will benefit from being held at a consistent location on a consistent day of the month.  Northwest Taxwatch, for example, meets the third Wednesday of every month at 7:00 P.M.   Your own meeting schedule may take into consideration the calendars of your members as well as the regularly scheduled meeting dates and times of the school board and/or its committees.

4.  You may want to adopt a set of by-laws.  The Northwest Taxwatch Bylaws are available as a model, as are those of the Illinois Center Right Coalition.  Bylaws are important to lay the rules for decision making, electing officers and taking positions on matters of importance.  Remember your mission – don’t ruin your fledgling organization over a passionate by-laws fight.  Adopt reasonable bylaws to meet your mission and to provide for the perpetuation of your group.

5.  Choose a name for your organization.  Your organization name should clearly communicate important information about your group.  Northwest Taxwatch is a tax watchdog group operating in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.  Try to make your name something easy to remember.

6.  Establish a website and an e-mail communication system.  The Internet is the organizational tool which will help you defeat an adversary that has unlimited resources.  While a website may have some costs associated with monthly hosting fees, many organizations are able to utilize the computer skills donated by members.  While an old fashioned printed newsletter may still bring added value, membership and impact for your group, the internet can’t be beat for the ability to communicate your message quickly and inexpensively.

7.  Attend school board meetings and committee meetings.  Sign up for the pre-meeting distribution list.  By law, public bodies in Illinois must publish their agendas in advance.  In addition, most public bodies will also make copies of all “board member materials” available to the press and media some days before a meeting.  Some bodies may mail these to you while others may have you come into their office to pick up material.  In either case, you may need to persist, as an administrator is not generally used to having citizens sign up for this service.  You may be asked to designate on of your members as the “newsletter editor” to qualify for the regular and free copy.

8.  Get to know the local newspaper and radio staff that cover local education.  Never lie to the press!  Your credibility with the education writers and local radio reporters will be one of your greatest assets.  It can take months to build a productive relationship with a member of the press.  One ill-informed or dishonest statement can ruin years of such work.  If you don’t know an answer, don’t make one up.  If you don’t know a number or a financial figure, don’t make one up.  Tell the reporter you don’t know.  If you promise to find out, keep your promise, find out and get the information back to the reporter in a timely fashion.

9.  Use letters to the editor.  Use the “Letter to the Editor” section of the local newspapers to help get your message out.  Most papers have a policy of limiting letter length, so write your letter and then edit it to be much briefer.  If you and your group are involved in a short-term project, like defeating a tax increase or ending a teacher strike, then you should think strategically about the letters you might be writing in a short time frame.  Most papers will limit the number of letters from one author or from a group.  You may not want to shoot all of your ammo at once, but you may not have the opportunity to write a full series of letters explaining the many intricate arguments on your side of an issue.

10.  Petitions.  Petitions are a great way to impact policy and to build your membership and support.  There are several different kinds of petitions.  One petition might be to hold an advisory referendum on the school board, municipal or county ballot.  For example, you may want to ask local voters “Should the school board limit future pay raises in the district to the cost of living or 3% whichever is lower?”  While this “advisory” referendum would have no binding authority on the board, it would provide your group with a purpose in seeking signatures in support of your general effort.  Another petition, of course, might be a petition for a real candidate for school board or a petition for a reverse referendum.  In any case, working with FTN, we can help you to database the names and addresses of petition signers.  You follow up with a “thank you” mailing to petition signers, inviting them to join your group, attend your meetings and donate money.

11.  Voter registration.  The major political parties have the ability to appoint deputy registrars.   If you don’t want to affiliate with a political party, some groups like the League of Women Voters or Eagle Forum may also sponsor deputy registrars.  Eventually, your own group may qualify with the local election authority to appoint deputy registrars.  Deputy registrars are trained to register voters.  While “Motor Voter” laws and the availability of voter registration at motor vehicle facilities would seemingly result in universal voter registration, you would be surprised how many of your neighbors are actually not registered to vote.  Plan voter registration activities early, as most jurisdictions refuse new voter registrations during a thirty-day pre-election moratorium.

12.  Local radio and public affairs programming.  Identify your local radio public affairs programming and offer your group as a resource.  Many local radio stations not only cover local school news, they may host a daily or weekly public affairs program and may be interested in having you as a guest. 

13.  Divide up the workload.  Divide up the workload and responsibilities based upon the abilities and interests of your members.  The “President” of the group should be an organized person who runs a good meeting, ideally someone who doesn’t need the spotlight.  The “spokesperson” for the group might be the President, but may be better served by someone who has some special skills in press relations, public speaking and/or letter writing.

14.  Attending meetings of public bodies.  You might be surprised how many public meetings are held where few if any members of the public are in attendance.  For example, nearly every public body is required to hold a public hearing on their budget and their property tax levy.  These hearings present an opportunity to speak out about wasteful spending practices.  In addition, most regular meetings will have a “public comment” section on the agenda.  Without public comment, a story in your local paper might just review the actions of the school board and quote an administrator.  With you or your members in attendance, the press may now balance the story with a comment from your taxpayer watchdog organization.

15.  Publicize teacher and administrator salaries in your district.  On average, schools spend 80% of their budgets on personnel costs.  To dispel the myth of underpaid teachers or education professionals, disseminate the data available at www.thechampion.org.  At this site, one can locate the salaries for every public school teacher and administrator in Illinois.  Additionally, one may figure what the pay raises have been.  While some young teachers may start with relatively low-paying positions, most teachers are earning well above their locality’s average per capita income after a few years.  Many teachers are being paid more than $100,000 per year for a nine-month-a-year job.

16.  File with the state board of elections and your county clerk.  Your organization will have its greatest impact if it eventually gets involved in endorsing candidates for office.  Your group may choose to simply back candidates for school board or advocate no votes on a tax increase referendum.  In this case, you would only need file as a “local” committee with your county clerk.  If your group eventually endorsed and supported candidates for the state legislature or for statewide office, you would file as a state organization with the State Board of Elections.

17.  Organize around your neighborhood schools.  FTN or your county clerk can print you a list of registered voters in your “precinct,” the smallest election division usually comprised of 200 to 500 voters.  The individual who establishes relationships with these voters, supplying them with information, will become the local “expert” on education and other civic issues.  You may also become the key person for registering voters or assisting “absentee voting” for individuals who will be away from home (college, military, snowbirds) at the time of the election.

18.  Newsletter/webpage editor.  Your organization will benefit from the services of people who like to write and compose either the newsletter or the e-letter generated from a webpage.  Always proof the writing for spelling, grammar and accuracy.  Nothing lowers the credibility of an education reform group quicker than sloppy writing.  Have an expert and a neophyte read the product before it is disseminated.  The writing should be at such a level that both the expert and the neophyte understand and “get” the issue.

19.  Fundraising.  Your group will be more successful if you are able to raise some funds to pay for copies, mailings and a web page.  Donations would only be tax deductible if your group went through the process of becoming a 501c3 educational foundation.  If, instead, your organization is better off sticking to donations that can be used to advocate voting behavior, the donations are not tax deductible.  Still, many business owners and other taxpayers should be interested in assisting you with outright donations.  Send thank you and receipts to donors.  Make sure you have a treasurer for your funds.  It is probably best to require two signatures to spend money.  Spaghetti supper fundraisers are a great way to raise a little money and public exposure.  Some businesses or members might like to donate goods or services as “silent auction” items to augment the fundraiser.

20.  Research.  Someone in your group may want to volunteer to be the “research director.”  Having access to documents and researching their content will assist your efforts.  Among the documents you want to digest are the current and recent teachers union contracts, the current and recent school budgets and any documents related to curriculum or student achievement.

21.  Freedom of Information requests.  Often referred to as FOIA requests (short for Freedom of Information Act), your ability to have access to information in the public domain is guaranteed by both Federal and State FOIA.  Indeed, some government bodies ignore FOIA or attempt to charge exorbitant fees for copies of information sought under FOIA.  As your group is attempting to educate the broad public about education policies, you should be able to request copies at no charge or reduced charge.  Government administrators have some time to deny a request and to respond to an appeal of a denial, so get your FOIA started early.  (See appendix for standard Illinois FOIA request.)

22.  Publicity.  Sometimes, the calendar provides opportunities to steal the thunder on publicity.  For example, the first day of school or the last day of school are distinct opportunities on the calendar for your group to issue a press release or a commentary on school spending or conduct.  National Education Month or National Literacy Day and Taxpayer Freedom Day are all opportunities for your group to “theme” a communication

23.  The teachers union.  Find a teacher who is sympathetic to your cause.  Without revealing that teachers identity, use that teacher as a source of information about teacher union activity in your community.  You won’t be surprised to learn that many school board members are current or former teachers union members.  Often, unions take on special activities to assist pro-union school board candidates or to pass tax increase referendums.  Just as you will benefit from having a source in the teacher’s union, realize that a teacher’s union sympathizer may eventually join your organization to further the opposition’s efforts.

24.  Teachers union dues.  The Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers give more money to Illinois politicians than any other organized special interest.  Teachers who in good conscience can’t support the union’s activities and positions can follow a process to void a portion of their union dues.

Updated August 10, 2006.