Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in Action: Day on Capitol Hill 2020

It was an exhilarating day of education-focused advocacy beneath the

Gold Dome this February as PAGE hosted Governor Brain Kemp and more than 200 teachers, administrators, and students from throughout the state at our annual Day on Capitol Hill event.

As attendees engaged in one-on-one advocacy with lawmakers outside the Senate and House chambers, their common purpose was clear: communicate with legislators about the issues that matter most to Georgia educators – TRS, testing, private school voucher expansion, and more.

And all was in keeping with remarks delivered by Governor Kemp during the event: “We’ve got to keep our best and brightest in the classroom. We also have to be able to recruit the best and brightest to come into the classroom.”

Advocacy is essential to the fulfillment of this goal. PAGE advocates daily when the General Assembly is in session. Our legislative team attends every education-focused meeting beneath the Gold Dome, offers testimony, speaks with the media, and produces reports, bill analysis, and advocacy alerts.

Beyond this, PAGE partners annually with GAEL (Georgia Association of Educational Leaders) and GACTE (Georgia Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) to produce this Day on Capitol Hill advocacy opportunity for Georgia educators.

As always, we invite and encourage you to make your individual voices heard by legislators year-round. As reiterated by policymakers addressing assembled educators at this year’s event, your input is vital to the process:

Visit www.pageinc.org/ legislative for advocacy-focused information and resources that will enable you to influence education policymaking in Georgia. Here, you can sign up to receive PAGE Capitol Reports and access links to voter registration, legislator contact information, and more.

We encourage you to take advantage of these resources and add your voice to education-focused conversations beneath the Gold Dome. n Photos by Chris Savas and Dolly Purvis. ‘We don’t know what’s important to you if we don’t hear from you. Tell us your concerns. There are many voices of advocacy at the Capitol. Be the loudest voice!’ — Rep. Dave Belton, Chair of the

House Special Rules Committee ‘We want to hear from you. Not just when you are here at the Capitol. Back home as well.’ — Sen. P.K. Martin, Chair of the Senate Education Committee

‘We’ve got to keep our best and brightest in the classroom. We also have to be able to recruit the best and brightest to come into the classroom… I’m committed to getting the pay raise done, and we’re going to continue to work with you as we work on standards and testing, and all the many other things that you’re dealing with. We know that all of you will do the same as well with us.’ — Governor Brian Kemp in his address to attendees of Day on Capitol Hill 2020