All members invited to annual advocacy effort

Association of California School Administrators

March 21, 2022

Lobby your elected officials at virtual Legislative Action Days, April 4-5

ACSA’s annual Legislative Action Days returns virtually this year, giving ACSA members the chance to learn how to effectively lobby their elected leaders and promote policies that benefit all educators and students.

This is the second time the annual advocacy event will be held virtually and is open to all members at no cost. The name change from Legislative Action Day to “Days” reflects the programming that takes place on April 4-5, a Monday and Tuesday, instead of only Monday as was done during previous in-person years. The added day together with the virtual aspect makes Legislative Action Days more accessible than ever.

ACSA State Vice President for Legislative Action Gina Potter joins Marc Ecker, ACSA’s interim director, and Senior Director of Policy and Governmental Relations Edgar Zazueta to open Legislative Action Days at 9 a.m. Monday. Later, Capitol Advisors partners Kevin Gordon and Jack O’Connell will give advocacy tips and tools. Zazueta will host with Naj Alikhan, senior director of communications.

Following Capitol Advisors’ talk, Assemblymembers Patrick O’Donnell, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, and Kevin McCarty, chair of Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance, will discuss their work on education bills and what they hope to achieve this legislative session.

ACSA’s Vice Presidents of Legislative Action from each of the 19 regions will meet with their representatives on their own throughout the week. Potter said ACSA members should take advantage of the opportunity to get face time with legislators and their staff.

“We hope as many ACSA leaders as possible statewide will participate and collectively voice critical issues, such as rejuvenating education and shifting away from health-related matters; boosting core education funding investments and limiting new programs; COVID attendance relief; and providing adequate funding for programs such as the expansion of transitional kindergarten,” Potter said.

Legislative Action Days resumes at 9 a.m. Tuesday with a welcome from ACSA President Charlie Hoffman. Sens. Connie Leyva and John Laird will highlight their legislative priorities.

Directly following those interviews, Laird will accept ACSA’s Friend of Education Award. Then, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s education policy advisor Brooks Allen and Dr. Sohil Sud from Safe Schools for All will talk about the Newsom administration’s accomplishments in K-12 education and future plans.

ACSA’s Legislative Action Days will take place April 4-5, 2022. Register for free at bit.ly/legactiondays2022.