Advocacy
Announcing the Second Annual Advocacy Postcard Campaign!
PTA Advocacy Committee has made it easy for you to contact our Oregon state legislators with your constituent input, as they actively work on the budget for the next two years. Let them know how YOU want your tax dollars spent.
Fill out this brief form with your contact info, and we will deliver a packet with 5 blank postcards, content suggestions, and addresses. We can even provide postcard stamps while supplies last!
Last year we distributed 500 postcards to the Abernethy community and our goal is to match that this year.
Thank you for advocating for ALL public school children in Oregon.
Mission (2022-2023)
The mission of the Advocacy Committee is to connect the Abernethy community with opportunities to:
Advocate for improved state-level funding for public education.
Communicate with our state legislators about issues pertinent to our students and other students in Oregon.
Support other local schools in meeting the needs of underserved populations.
Goals (2022-2023)
Host a postcard campaign to model and assist Abernethy families in sharing their views with their state legislators.
Share postcard campaign materials with other interested PTAs.
Create a resource and/or guide with opportunities to advocate for increasing state-level public education funding as well as supporting other schools with underserved populations.
Share opportunities for Abernethy families to support other local school communities.
Resources & Opportunites
National PTA Advocacy Resources
PPS Office of Government Relations
PPS Legislative Priorities 2023
Bills currently in committee:
Donate to the Portland Public Schools PTA Clothing Closet - “Our goal is to provide 2000 students each with one new pair of jeans and five new pairs of underwear and socks. Every $35.00 that is donated supports one student with these new items.”
Donate to the Fund for PPS Schools - “Become a champion of public education! A gift to The Fund for PPS helps create Inspired, Sustainable Schoolyards, supports Arts Education & Enrichment, helps stabilize families through our Crisis Relief Fund, and much more.”
Contact your Oregon State Legislators
Use the following links to access email addresses, physical mailing addresses, and phone numbers for contacting legislators. Committee members change periodically.
Senate Committee on Education & House Committee on Education - for policy changes of current moneys in the K-12 education budget
Joint Committee on Ways & Means - Subcommittee on Education - for budgetary funding from the General Fund
Ideas for writing postcards/emails
Choose/adapt one or more components from each section.
Greeting:
Dear Rep. / Sen. __________,
Introduction:
I am a [parent/family member] of a student in Portland Public Schools/Abernethy.
I am a voter in your district [for your own elected officials].
Ask:
Please push for more funding for Oregon’s public schools so we can have smaller class sizes and more access to learning specialists.
Please increase school funding so that no Oregon children are left behind.
Please prioritize hiring more teachers for our schools.
Supporting arguments:
The average student to teacher classroom ratio in Oregon is above the national average: 19.4 students per teacher compared to the national average of 16.0 students per teacher (in 2018-19).
Smaller class sizes increase student success.
Our public schools rely on state general funds to set hiring plans. Districts can hire more staff when they know they have the support of lawmakers.
This is an equity issue that impacts all of us, across party lines and throughout the state.
Oregon’s funding lags behind most other states.
Our kids deserve better than 30:1 in a classroom.
[You can add a personal example of why school funding is important to you and your family.]
Closing:
Thank you for your public service.
Thank you for serving on the __________ Committee.
Sincerely, Name [optional - address if you live in their district]
Questions? Email: advocacy@supportabernethy.org
We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.
- Cesar Chavez, United Farm Workers