Focus Areas

Advocacy for children and families

One of the most important roles of California State PTA is to create and support laws that improve the lives of all California children.

TAKE ACTION!

Click here to see all of California State PTA’s (and National PTA’s) Action Alerts on our Take Action page.

FIND YOUR BALLOT

FEDERAL LEGISLATION

Take a look at the latest Federal legislative updates from California State PTA including updates from National PTA.

LEARN MORE

ADVOCACY GOALS

Advocate for legislation, policies, and measures that:

  • safeguard the health, safety, welfare, culture, and well-being of children and families, including mental health services and support for vulnerable youth;
  • promote evidence-based, informed family engagement;
  • expand civic engagement, learning, and participation;
  • enact common sense gun control.

Provide programs, expertise, and resources to support and expand PTA advocacy at the local level.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AS A PTA ADVOCACY CHAIR

If you are the new advocacy chair or legislative officer for your PTA, thank you for taking this important position. PTA has a proud history of advocating for pro-grams and legislation that help children be safe, healthy and successful. Now you are a part of that vital mission. If you have never done this job before, you may wonder how to begin. The state legislative process is complex and the issues can be confusing. There is a lot to learn. But California State PTA is here to make your job as easy as possible!

An invaluable resource is Ed100.org, a free online course on California education, broken into brief lessons. Encourage your members to access this course to become informed parents and to win possible prizes for your school.

Fourth District PTA has great resources for you and your members. Check out their advocacy newsletter, including a guide to being an advocacy chair, and use the information for your own PTA!

ADVOCACY, SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOU

Amplifying the PTA voice is easy with the new Social Media Advocacy Chart. Tweet, post or share anything in the green column. Think twice before sharing items from the yellow sections and do not share anything from a PTA account if it came from the red column.

Use social media to lift up PTA – you are an advocate and we need your voice!

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Volunteers Make a Difference

“Volunteers are at the heart of PTA advocacy. We speak up for all children and families to make a difference at the local, regional, state and national level.”

PTA volunteer legislative advocates representing the broad scope of the organization closely monitor pending legislation and testify at public hearings to ensure our voice is heard. The advocates include the director of legislation, state advocates, a federal advocate and consultants with specialized skills. They meet with elected officials and policy-makers, speak at meetings of the California Legislature and carefully monitor both state and federal legislation. Advocacy focus areas include education funding and policy, community and school safety, juvenile justice, child care and early education, children’s health and other issues affecting kids and youth.

Volunteer advocates also analyze statewide ballot measures and determine California State PTA’s position, based upon convention resolutions and other PTA authority. For questions or more information about our legislative advocacy program, please contact the Director of Legislation at legislation@capta.org.

Get Involved

There are several ways you can get involved in our advocacy efforts and help make a difference: