Statewide Advocacy Coordination AESA Call to Action Pre-Conference September 18, 2019 Statewide Advocacy Coordination

Contents Overview Consensus Building Using Data to Inform Advocacy Building Membership/System Capacity Alliances Direct Lobbying People often ask me what it takes to be a lobbyist in Ohio. It essentially only takes $75 and a heart beat. But it also requires having a thick emotional callous, comfort with ambiguity and the ability to build and sustain relationships.

Overview When is the best time to advocate? 24/7/365 Everyone wants great relationships but not everyone is willing to do the work required to build them. Do not wait until you need something to build a relationship with policymakers and other key decision makers.

Ohio’s 52 ESCs provide $1.5 billion in services to Ohio’s public, private and community/charter schools each year. Our membership consists of 14,000 personnel from 52 ESCs ranging in size from: Largest: 48 districts serving 210,878 ADM and state funding of $5.761 Million to Smallest: 4 districts serving 4,349 ADM and state funding of $132,157.00 Member school districts fit into one of seven demographic types identified by the state from agricultural West Central Ohio to the traditional manufacturing cities in Northeast Ohio to Rural Southern Ohio and the Appalachian Counties to the east and southeast Overview

133rd General Assembly Government Relations Strategic Plan Overview 133rd General Assembly Government Relations Strategic Plan Policy/ Program Adoption Process Partners Profiles Policy Planning

Consensus Building Development of Belief Statements “OESCA believes that high quality educational opportunities are the cornerstone of our democracy and are an integral part of the state’s economic development strategies.” Adoption of Core Policy Principles “To support safe and healthy learning environments that create a new culture of learning and meet the needs of all children regardless of where they live and attend school.” Develop & Approve State Funding & Policy Priorities We may have a laundry list of policy and funding priorities. But we try and narrow that list to the top 5-7 with the most success of passage. We narrow that by those we know we have broad agreement on and that given the political realities have the most likelihood of success.

Consensus Building 3 Step Process Critical Issues Committee OESCA Executive Committee Membership This is an intentional – and strategic step – to make sure the membership is on the same page. Nothing can kill an effort like dissention and not being on the same page with membership. There will be issues of difference or priorities that are unique to a particular ESC and where we can we will help or otherwise remain neutral.

Using Data to inform advocacy Annual Data Pull of State-level ESC & Client District Data Staffing Reports Final Revenue & Expenditure Reports “High Performing ESC” Data State Report Card Data OESCA Biennial Membership Survey Service-level Data Staffing-level Data Other Benchmarking Data

Using Data to inform advocacy Building the Profile Using Data to inform advocacy Distill voluminous and sometimes complex data into more simple one-age infographics.

Using Data to inform advocacy And….Using Data to Inform Policy Using Data to inform advocacy We also use the data to show how our historic strengths align to the priorities of the Executive and Legislative Branches, the Ohio Department of Education and others. It also allows us to think about how the association supports our members in this work.

Building membership & System Capacity ESC Trainings Understanding & Influencing the Legislative Process Understanding & Influencing the State Budget Regional Trainings “What Every School Leader Should Know” Talking Points Toolkits

Building membership & System Capacity Toolkits Elevator Speech Advocacy Plan Development Building “grassroots” and “grass tops” support “7 degrees of Separation” Legislative Contact Sheets Activities Lunch & Learns Legislative Breakfasts Day at the Statehouse

Partnerships / Alliances Mainline Education Organizations BASA OSBA OASBO OEA OFT Personnel Based Organizations OPTA OOTA OAA OSPA OAPT OAPSA OCECD Partnerships / Alliances

Partnerships / Alliances Non-Education Interests Can Be Critical Partnerships / Alliances County-based health and human services agencies and their statewide organizations The business community – NFIB, Ohio Manufacturers, Chamber of Commerce Statewide Think Tanks including HPIO, Buckeye Institute, Innovation Ohio

Direct lobbying Who to Lobby Vehicles to Direct Lobby Executive Branch Legislature Executive Agencies Independent Agencies Other Associations/Interests Vehicles to Direct Lobby Association Membership Independent Lobbyists Build and sustain those relationships – Advocacy is an ongoing event not a single activity. You often have to lobby other associations and special interests…this can lead to partnership building and alliances.

questions Craig Burford, Executive Director Ohio Educational Service Center Association 8050 N. High Street, Suite 150 Columbus, OH 43235 burford@oesca.org 614-561-6818 A final thought…Policy making is an incremental process. You have to be in it for the long haul. At times that means making concessions to get what you can knowing you may have to come back at a later time when conditions are more acceptable to what you are trying to accomplish.