The Federation for
Community Schools
House Bill 684: How a bill became a law,
steps you can take to pass legislation in your
respective States
April 2010
The Federation for Community Schools
is 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 highquality programs, during the
regular school day and out-ofschool time, which enrich
students' educational experiences
and achievement, support
families, and strengthen
communities.
The Community School
Parthenon
The Four Pillars of Development
Successful
Students, Families
Schools &
Communities
A
C
A
D
E
M
I
C
S
H
E
A
L
T
H
SHARED
LEADERSHIP
INTEGRATED
LEARNING
PARTNERSHIPS
DATA DRIVEN
DECISION MAKING
F
A
M
I
L
I
E
S
SHARED VISION
BROADER
OPPORTUNITIES
C
O
M
M
U
N
I
T
Y
LEVERAGED
RESOURCES
COLLABORATION
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
Shared Vision
Partnerships
Broader Opportunities
Integrated Learning
Collaboration
Leveraged Resources
Data-driven Decision Making
• PILLARS of Programming
Academics Health Family Community
Community School Model for Success
+
School
Open:
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“Nights &
weekends”
School vacations
=
+
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 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 informationSubmit letters to the editor
Authoring 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
Stakeholders coming together to identify needs & find solutions and
pooling resources to help with advocacy activities
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
Community non-profit
organizations
Community leaders
& businesses
Parents and their
children
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 Schools
20 N. Wacker, Suite 1740
Chicago, IL 60606
312-629-4990
http://www.ilcommunityschools.org