The Federation for Community Schools

House Bill 684: How a bill became a law, steps you can take to pass legislation in your

respective StatesApril 2010

The Federation for Community Schoolsis an Illinois, statewide collaborative that advocates for policies that develop and sustain community schools which support children, youth, families, and communities.

OUR VISION: Every school in Illinois will partner with its community to provide high-quality programs, during the regular school day and out-of-school time, which enrich students' educational experiences and achievement, support families, and strengthen communities.

The Community School Parthenon

The Four Pillars of Development

PARTNERSHIPS BROADER OPPORTUNITIES

H

E

A

L

T

H

FAMILIES

COMMUNITY

ACADEMICS

SuccessfulStudents, Families

Schools &Communities

INTEGRATED LEARNING

LEVERAGEDRESOURCES

SHARED LEADERSHIP

DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKING COLLABORATION

SHARED VISION

Parthenon Model

• FOUNDATION BLOCKS of a fully implemented community school ensure high quality, community-engaged, and leveraged resources at school (eight foundation blocks):Shared Leadership Integrated Learning

Shared Vision Collaboration

Partnerships Leveraged Resources

Broader Opportunities Data-driven Decision Making

• PILLARS of Programming

Academics Health Family Community

+ + =

School Community Program Director

Success & Achievement

● Students Improve Academically.

● Student Needs are Identified and Addressed to Ensure Success.

● Students are Safer and Healthier.

● Community Stakeholders are Engaged at the School.

● Resources are Leveraged from the School’s Community.

Community School Model for Success

Open:

7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“Nights & weekends”

School vacations

Community Schools Work

Research clearly shows that the community school model has a positive impact on student academic performance and strengthens the school and community.

- Chicago Public Schools saw a 70 percent improvement in homework completion, 72 percent in class participation, 66 percent in classroom behavior, and 73 percent in overall academic performance.

- At PS 5, a Children’s Aid Society Community School in New York, the percentage of children reading at grade level rose from 28 percent in fourth grade to 42 percent by the time the students reached sixth grade.

- Other cities outside of Chicago and throughout the nation have experienced similar improvements. Therefore, pursuing state legislation to codify State law to formally recognize community schools was a good, next step to advance the Illinois community schools’ movement.

HB 684, Federation Timeline…

• A policy was formulated; substantive bill to amend the Illinois School Code to include community schools, relying on the work of more than 900 Federation members, the policy was driven by those working at community schools, as well as those benefiting from programs, resources and services at community schools. (share one pager of HB 684)

• TIMELINE: December 2008 - May 2009 – DECEMBER 2008– meeting with members to craft idea for bill – JANUARY- Setting the stage for the bill, acquiring a main sponsor– JANUARY—Organizing our first Advocacy Training Day– FEBRUARY—Having bill introduced and acquiring more co-sponsors– MARCH—Holding briefings for the bill, testifying at hearings for the

bill (State Capitol)– APRIL—Holding our Advocacy Day at the State Capitol– MAY—Relying on members to make personal/organizational push

Securing Champions

• Important Tip: Find champions to help the bill move forward in the State Legislature (takes persistence); many will lend support, but finding policy makers who will advance the policy forward by giving own power is the KEY to the policy’s success.

Key Legislative Steps

• Once champions identified, the following are steps taken legislatively to move a bill forward:

– Policy in legislative format must filed– Additional bill sponsors need to be acquired– Bill must be assigned to a substantive committee (know committees)– Substantive committee must have hearing on the bill in which you

provide witnesses to tell the community school story, – After must be voted on in full chamber– After bill passes out of one chamber, it enters the other and steps

aforementioned are repeated – Once the second chamber goes through all the steps and the bill

passes, it is sent to the Governor’s Office for approval and signature

Garnering Key Supporters• State Agencies as Partners – Illinois Board of Education, fostered relations with key

members of the Board, testified before their specific hearings across the State, initiated letter-writing campaigns to the Chairman of the Board (providing template of letter for Stakeholders), and met with key policy makers on the Board separately.

• Securing the Governor’s Office – Focused special attention on the executive branch of State Government, flooding the office with postcards, letters, student drawings in support of the bill, posters, and other mass advocacy activities.

• Targeting the Unnamed Policymaker, the MEDIA – Unnamed policymaker can’t be overlooked. Ways to do outreach:

Generate support for unpopular policies Become worthy advocates of a particular issue Persistence -constant sharing of information can help gain their attention. Some ways to provide information-Submit letters to the editorAuthoring and distributing press releases, Providing materials to editorial boards,Continuing ongoing conversations with journalists (email/phone)Assist Stakeholders to find media contacts in their communities and give story ideas

Types of Stakeholders: Bring Together Stakeholders to advance your bill

A community school brings together all of the stakeholders who play pivotal roles in whether or not a child will succeed at school and beyond. By working together towards one common goal – the success of the children – the transformation begins and great things happen.

School teachers & administrators

Parents and their children

Community leaders & businesses

Community non-profit organizations

Stakeholders coming together to identify needs & find solutions and pooling resources to help with advocacy activities

Stakeholder Steps • Moved the issue onto the public agenda, telling the community school story

as a first step to garner support for it.

– Sent postcards to State Legislators in support of the bill (high volume)– Make phone calls to policymakers and State legislative offices (both Capitol

and district)– Participated in national after school efforts such as Lights On (visibility)– Invited and hosted legislators to showcase events at community schools– Helped to acquire co-sponsors for the bill with the relationships they had built

with lawmakers, legislators (networks are a BIG asset here)– Signed onto letters of support and sent them out legislators, policy makers

and community leaders (provided organizational support)– Testified at committee hearings, sharing personal stories of respective

schools, communities and impacts– Attended Advocacy Day at the State Capitol to meet and speak with legislators

Helpful Hints, in summary…• In summary, advocacy strategy implementation is much like developing

programming at a community school.

• To be successful, the first step is to pull together key stakeholders.

• A broad set of advocacy activities need to be developed and administered and the group of Stakeholders need to be mindful of tapping into networks and the various audiences that need to be informed (key supporters).

• Advocacy strategy will need constant maintenance, persistence, refining, modifying and updating in order to maximize the capabilities of all those involved. For months, it will be a work in progress.

• The outcome is a series of orchestrated activities that are driven by one common purpose– to expand, promote and sustain high quality community schools.

Contact Information

By working together and speaking with one unified voice, we can greatly enhance the quality, outcomes and

sustainability of community schools and their families, students and community.

Federation for Community Schools20 N. Wacker, Suite 1740

Chicago, IL 60606312-629-4990

http://www.ilcommunityschools.org