In this article, the author's share some ways that voters--and specifically educators--can advocate for their views on an ongoing basis and make those views known to the elected officials who make decisions that directly affect teachers. These policymakers generally are not educators by training and, consequently, lack the in-depth knowledge…

A debate over the quality of teacher education programs has been ongoing for nearly 100 years. The most current round in this debate started with "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) and has escalated in recent years to involve an increasing number of participant-constituents, each of whom has voiced…

In recent years, parents have benefited from a significant expansion of educational options for their children. Parents have many more opportunities than just a few years ago to choose from an array of public school options, including charter, virtual, and magnet schools. Expanding educational options for parents is one of the hallmarks of the…

This handbook is designed to assist special education advocates in developing the capacity to mount an effective advocacy campaign at the state and federal levels. It is divided into the following four separate training modules: (1) "Introduction to Advocacy"; (2) "Understanding the Governmental Process"; (3) "Changing Public Policy"; and (4)…