Agreed on all points. Even on smaller races, the difference between raising a whillion dollars and a few thousand is pretty small--and I say that as a guy who ran for Congress with $10k, with about the same results as if I'd raised ten or a hundred times that.
I've recently been telling my friends this very thing, so I love the concept of political hobbyists. At our ages (65-80) we're unlikely to run for even school board, but we have to do more than just gripe to each other. We have to ACT, and acting locally is the place to start. [And in Missouri, school boards are critical, as they try to ban books and knowledge!]
Can you tell us what happened with the bathroom policy?
I agree with your local PTA comment to a point. A weird bathroom policy, a change to dismissal time, planning the edible garden, the bike club - you can get traction there.
There are near zero examples, however, of PTA moving the needle on core issues. Fights in school; unsafe. Struggling kids get no meaningful tutoring. A few outlier really bad teachers. A few constrained Jaime Escalante really good teachers who the school is about to lose. Reading scores persistently low; parent wonders if curriculum is equivalent to the dumb bathroom policy.
Do you want a say in whether your kids are taught in preschool that there is a rainbow of different genders or just two sexes? Speak up before it's too late! Impressionable uncritical young minds are listening to what they are told by authorities.
Agreed on all points. Even on smaller races, the difference between raising a whillion dollars and a few thousand is pretty small--and I say that as a guy who ran for Congress with $10k, with about the same results as if I'd raised ten or a hundred times that.
I've recently been telling my friends this very thing, so I love the concept of political hobbyists. At our ages (65-80) we're unlikely to run for even school board, but we have to do more than just gripe to each other. We have to ACT, and acting locally is the place to start. [And in Missouri, school boards are critical, as they try to ban books and knowledge!]
Can you tell us what happened with the bathroom policy?
I agree with your local PTA comment to a point. A weird bathroom policy, a change to dismissal time, planning the edible garden, the bike club - you can get traction there.
There are near zero examples, however, of PTA moving the needle on core issues. Fights in school; unsafe. Struggling kids get no meaningful tutoring. A few outlier really bad teachers. A few constrained Jaime Escalante really good teachers who the school is about to lose. Reading scores persistently low; parent wonders if curriculum is equivalent to the dumb bathroom policy.
I ended up getting the audio book of Politics is for Power. Couldn't agree more with it so far. Thanks for the recommendation!
The PTA gives you access to the school's principal and a way to adocate for you child(ren) that you don't have just walking in the door.
Do you want a say in whether your kids are taught in preschool that there is a rainbow of different genders or just two sexes? Speak up before it's too late! Impressionable uncritical young minds are listening to what they are told by authorities.
That's a very good "if you want to do politics, do this". But this is a really big if.