Several school districts in North Carolina, including Guilford, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and Wake, have legislative agendas.
Angela Levine, a public education activist and organizer with the women-led organization Red Wine & Blue, is pushing for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools to have one too.
“It's formalizing how, on a local level, we think our state government should support public education," Levine said. "And so this is going to give some very tangible goals for the district that we can actually share with the community.”
Other districts’ agendas have included requests for things like higher pay for teachers, and funding for specific school programs. Levine says an agenda would help to guide state representatives and county commissioners who make funding decisions, but also activists like herself.
"When we hear about bills, we can say, 'Oh, you know, this bill goes against one of our goals in the legislative agenda. I'm going to reach out to this elected [official] and email them and tell them what I think about this,'” she said.
At a Board of Education meeting last month, Board Member Sabrina Coone spoke in support of developing an agenda and hiring a lobbyist.
“I think we need someone who is going to go on our behalf and lobby our interests," Coone said. "And I think it's time that we do that.”
Her comment came after district staff provided an update about more than 20 education bills that would have significant impacts locally if passed.
Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.