Leadership Matters March 2014

Outreach

Simple secret for communicating with legislators: They are people, too

I had an interesting (at least for me) conversation with State Sen. John Sullivan recently. My takeaway was this: Legislators are people, too. That may not be a revelation, but today’s political rhetoric can make you wonder whether the human factor is disappearing into a blogosphere that seems to thrive on personal attacks and anonymous responses. The topic of our conversation was legislative roundtables. On the accompanying page you will find a column written by Virginia Superintendent Brent O’Daniell about the highly successful annual roundtable hosted by the IASA Two Rivers Region. During the past several years, that roundtable has achieved almost perfect attendance by both legislators and superintendents. Retired Mendon Superintendent Diane Robertson and Pikeland Superintendent Paula Hawley are credited with facilitating past roundtables and helping to set a productive tone.

Michael Chamness, IASA Director of Communications

I wanted to find out from a legislator’s perspective what makes the roundtables work. Sullivan, who actually attends three education roundtables a year in his Senate district, said that the Two Rivers formula for getting a legislator’s attendance – and, more importantly, their attention – works. And it is pretty simple. “They do their homework ahead of time, the meetings are concise and not rambling, and we get a chance to hear specifics about how our legislative actions are impacting school districts and the problems they are having in areas like transportation and curriculum,” said Sullivan, a Democrat from Rushville, who also serves as the Majority Leader in the Senate. Clearly, the efficient use of time can be as important to legislators as it is to school superintendents. The best communication goes two ways, and Sullivan said while he learns something new from every roundtable he attends, he hopes school leaders also “get a sense of reality about what we as legislators are up against” in trying to make decisions regarding policies and budgets. Obviously, tangible things like preparation and having a focused agenda are important. But it was an intangible item that really caught my attention as Sullivan was discussing why he religiously attends the education roundtables. In a word: Respect. “We have had some very frank discussions, but they have been held in an environment of understanding on both sides,” Sullivan said. “We all have challenges and we all have parameters that we have to work within. I appreciate the way the school superintendents have just laid out the facts.” Sullivan also destroyed one stereotype by making it clear that even as a politician he’s no fan of hot air. “We all are passionate about our jobs and we should be. But when there’s just a lot of rhetoric and hot air and people are lobbing bombs at each other, nothing really gets accomplished,” he said. “We are all professionals.” And, of course, we are all people.

make the working relationship more personal and even allowed me to establish communications with legislators outside of my own legislative district. The end result is developing a working relationship whereby a legislator might reach out to you to solicit your thoughts on public education policy or on potential legislation. That equals more impact on the legislative process for school superintendents. That makes it worth the effort.

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gathering and sharing. Having a unified front on difficult issues can have a real impact when it comes to discussing issues with legislators. If we cannot reach a consensus on tough issues, how can we expect to persuade legislators to support our position? Politics and specific issues aside, one of the mutual benefits of holding a regular legislative roundtable is to put a face with a name. That helps

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