School Priority Month Update

Now, more than ever, it is critical that our local, county and statewide elected officials are given the opportunity to visit campuses and to witness the tremendous successes achieved every day in the classroom.  While much of the focus has been on promoting engagement with our legislators in Austin, it is critical that those most directly impacted by the presence of local schools in a community are made aware of these efforts.

Make Education a Priority (MEaP) is proud to sponsor the inaugural School Priority Month (SPM’16) in October of this year and in every other October just prior to the opening of the next legislative session in January of even-numbered years.  MEaP is thrilled with the support we have received from districts around the state and sincerely appreciates the commitment from those who have chosen to participate. 

SPM’16 is a unique opportunity for many individuals who have not visited a campus in their local communities to now do so.  Community and stakeholder engagement is an essential part of having a sound public education system and, to the extent that stakeholders become more involved, they become stronger advocates for the nearly 5.3 million Texas public education students.

While still in the process of developing a tool kit to assist districts in their planning efforts for this important series of events, MEaP has released a resolution that can be adopted by participating districts, as well as a media release for local districts.  Much like the resolution adopted by more than 600 districts supporting the original Make Education a Priority grassroots movement, this resolution is an opportunity for trustees to acknowledge their support and to frame participation for their elected officials.  The initial information and tool kit can be found by clicking here.

Public education advocates have invested considerable time and effort working to engage legislators in discussions about public education.  SPM’16 is now an extension of that in that it provides an opportunity for legislators to visit campuses and also creates an additional group of public education advocates who can potentially engage and discuss public education issues with statewide officials.  After all, what goes on in the local district has a very strong impact and influence on what goes on in the community.  This is an opportunity to build yet another grassroots movement to raise awareness of the challenges faced by public education and the degree to which public education works to overcome these challenges every day in our classrooms.

If your district has not already joined the SPM’16 effort, we encourage you to consider doing so.  Advocacy for public education requires involvement from stakeholders at all levels and this is a great opportunity to reach out to what, for many, has been an untapped potential advocacy group.  We encourage you to come together with us to Make Education a Priority. 

To become a part of SPM’16, please contact Bobby J Rigues, MEaP CEO, at bobby@schoolpriority.com or me (craig@schoolpriority.com).  We appreciate your consideration, as do the nearly 5.3millionn public education students.