Power in a Pandemic

POWER IN A PANDEMIC

Just as school has looked different this year, IDEA’s advocacy team of parents and teachers has had to change how they connect with education policymakers.

The scholars, parents and employees who have chosen to be part of IDEA’s community know that visiting campuses is the best way to get to know what makes IDEA schools special. In a typical year, a steady stream of visitors walks IDEA’s hallways in Texas and Louisiana, including elected officials who set state and federal education policy and allocate the essential funding that supports public schools.

THE PAST YEAR HAS PAUSED THOSE TOURS as well as sit-down meetings in lawmakers’ offices—another precaution to prevent the spread of coronavirus. What continues, though, is the importance of helping policymakers understand the value of school choice, what distinguishes IDEA, and how this network of public charter schools is meeting the needs of more than 64,000 young learners and their families.

That’s where a devoted group of more than 2,000 IDEA parents and teachers comes in. As volunteer advocates for IDEA and, more broadly, for charter schools and student-focused policies, these champions have creatively adapted their advocacy during COVID to ensure that their voices–and the voices of families and educators like them–get heard by their elected representatives in Austin, Baton Rouge and Washington, DC. "Parents are passionate about public charter schools," says Roslyn Willis, whose daughter is in 1st grade at IDEA Edgemere in El Paso. "We are willing to advocate for fair funding and legislation in support of our schools."

Even as IDEA and other charter schools have expanded to more communities, many lawmakers remain unfamiliar with these tuition-free, publicly funded alternatives to traditional public schools. "There are so many misconceptions out there about charter schools," Ms. Willis says, "and some elected officials are not well educated on how they operate."

One message the advocates have been conveying to officials since last spring is that charters have been just as affected by COVID-19 as their peer schools and districts. Students have needed digital devices and internet access to learn at home. On campuses, extraordinary measures have been taken to minimize the virus’s spread, with new and unforeseen costs for cleaning, air filters, masks, plastic dividers and other protective equipment. Student needs that schools typically meet on campus, such as meals to combat hunger, have shifted to families for whom the pandemic has been financially, if not physically, devastating. State education departments are reimbursing school districts for 75% of emergency needs like these, using federal CARES Act funding, which has also helped states maintain per-pupil payments for academic support.

"COVID-19 has deeply impacted each of us in numerous ways; however, it also seems to have forged a stronger dedication to ensure the future is better for our students," says Scott Frank, a teacher at IDEA Frontier in Brownsville who is one of 30 participants in IDEA’s Teacher Policy Leadership Program.

Through Zoom meetings, phone calls, writing and the occasionally physically distant conversation, the parents and teachers of IDEA’s advocacy team emailed, called, texted or took other actions thousands of times in 2020. Their activities included:

• Advocating with members of Congress for emergency funding to stabilize schools during the pandemic, and stressing the importance of continued federal funding for school meals that IDEA has made available to students learning at home; • Speaking with state legislators to share the impact of

COVID-19 on their families and school communities, as well as their experiences with online learning; • Writing op-eds about the need to keep educational standards high even while ensuring health and safety; • Researching and developing policy recommendations for certifying teachers outside of traditional routes; • Getting to know elected candidates for office in areas where IDEA has campuses; • Helping more than 1,000 IDEA scholars, parents and staff register to vote for the first time, and assisting thousands more in updating or confirming their registrations; and • Participating in public demonstrations for equity and justice.

For Abigail Baiza, a 3rd grade ELA teacher at IDEA Monterrey Park in San Antonio, the necessity of including teachers’ voices in policy conversations motivated her to become an active advocate in addition to her role in the classroom. "When it comes to what our students need in education, [teachers] are the ‘go-to’ people," Ms. Baiza says. "It is time teachers become the ‘go-to’ people when developing policy decisions in education, especially in times of a pandemic."

IDEA’s advocacy team is always looking to add voices interested in communicating with education policymakers. If you are an IDEA parent or teacher interested in sharing your perspective, contact Family Organizer Ruben De Los Santos (ruben.delossantos@ideapublicschools.org) or text JOIN to 52886.