Making Change

Equal educational opportunity is a national imperative.

We are all in this together, and we have a shared responsibility to protect the common good and build common ground. We believe that equal educational opportunity need not wait another generation.

Get tools here for
making change!

Testimony Paks for Texas and Georgia

This infographic set gives you tips for writing legislative testimony, registering to testify when you get there and delivering your testimony during a hearing.

How to Meet with Your Elected Official

Meeting with your elected officials gives you the opportunity to share information, data and policy ideas about the issues that impact your community. Here are some tips to help you prepare.

How to Hold a Virtual Town Hall

A huge part of advocacy is gathering people together to rally around an issue or cause. Town halls are a great idea to talk about a problem and get public support and other people’s opinions. Usually, these are held in person, but  with online tools, we can hold these town hall meetings virtually.

How the Texas Legislature Works

This one-pager will help guide you through the different levels of government and how they affect education in Texas. There are many moving parts and several opportunities to advocate education policy leaders on the important of equity within our education system.

How to Testify before the Legislature

Before any bill becomes a law, it must first be heard in both a Senate and House committee. In these public meetings, people are given an opportunity to provide testimony on, for, or against a bill. Here are some tips to help you prepare to testify before the Texas Legislature and tips for testifying before the Georgia General Assembly.

GA parking garage from TikTok

How-to Video Clips

Watch IDRA’s TikTok and Instagram accounts for video clips with pointer for visiting the Georgia and Texas capitols for advocacy. Examples include: How to get to the Georgia capitol from the parking garage, and how to register to testify for the House and Senate in Texas.

More Ways to Make Change

Hold community meetings

Large community meetings are most effective ways to bring people together to discuss issues of common concern when they are designed to include small group conversations that lead to action steps. A good example is a regional roundtable, such as the mesa comunitarias held in south Texas.

Read More »

How to work with reporters

In the advocacy space, there are many opportunities to chat with the local, state and national media about your movement, topic or subject area you know about. Having news articles, television interviews, and other media opportunities is a great way to broadcast your message and broaden your scope of interested people.

Read More »

Use data

When working with families on education issues, it is critical to carefully assess which ones are most interesting and relevant to them. A key element of IDRA’s Education CAFE model is that members choose a project for their group to focus on in order to affect education in their community’s schools.

Read More »

Use social media

Social media can be a powerful tool for community organizing and for influencing change. 1. Be clear on what you want your audience to do Many people feel the pull to support a cause, but have no idea how they can actually join in. Want your audience to spread awareness?

Read More »

Advocacy News – Texas

Texas Advocacy Tools Texas state lawmakers kicked off the 89th legislative session on January 14, 2025. For the following 140 legislative days, they will take up issues that affect every corner of the state, and the top among them is education. IDRA’s policy priorities include issues from prior legislative sessions

Read More »

Advocacy News – Georgia

Georgia Advocacy Tools The Georgia General Assembly has the chance to make our state a leader in education. Yet some seek to undermine trust in public schools by pushing policies that make classrooms less safe, using hostile rhetoric and disparaging Georgia’s diverse communities and students. IDRA calls on Georgia’s state

Read More »

My Groups

You are not part of any groups. Click here to join one.

Latest News

Translate »