Advocacy
A primary role of a PTA is Advocacy. Advocacy is "support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy," in this case, public education.
Advocacy is getting involved and making a difference! After we elect people to represent us, we still need to let them know how we feel! And by and large they listen to what their constituents have to say!
Advocacy Issues:
We will attempt to keep you informed about Advocacy issues that relate to South Hi Mount on the South Hi Mount Facebook page, but these links allow you to sign up for some great text & email advocacy alerts :
Who to contact:
Here is some contact info for the folks you can reach out to for issues related to South Hi Mount, FWISD, and public education in general:
FWISD School Board Trustee for Place 5 (South Hi Mount's area): CJ Evans cj.evans@fwisd.org
The other Trustees and their email address can be found here
FWISD Superintendent Kent Scribner: kent.scribner@fwisd.org
Texas Education Agency Commissioner, Mike Morath at commissioner@tea.texas.gov or 512-463-9734
State Board of Education members , South Hi Mount is in District 11, Patricia Hardy
Office of the Governor Greg Abbott at 512-463-1782 or https://gov.texas.gov/apps/contact/opinion.aspx
Who are your representatives? Enter your address at this link to find your State and National reps: https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home
Who is responsible for what?
Here is a great infographic from the Public Education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas about who is responsible for school funding in Texas!
And who is Raise Your Hand Texas?
Founded in 2006, Raise Your Hand Texas is a non-partisan nonprofit organization working to reinvent public education for the 21st century, because the future of Texas is in our public schools.
From the New York Times:
"Founded in 2006 by the San Antonio grocery mogul Charles Butt, Raise Your Hand Texas has become a seasoned lobbying force on education issues at the Capitol. It supports policies that advance high-performing public schools for all students, says its chief executive, David Anthony."
"No. 1 on its list of legislative priorities is combating private school vouchers. (Raise Your Hand Texas is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Charles Butt is a major donor to The Tribune.) In the current legislative session, much of the group’s efforts have been aimed at shaping charter school policy."