What is THE DAY ON THE HILL?
Members of FSCA will be spending the day in Tallahassee on January 18, 2022, where we will be meeting with legislators to discuss the impact school counselors can make on students and seek support for HB 941 and SB 1404.
In Advance of the DAY ON THE HILL
You will need to contact your local legislators’ (House and Senate) office to make an appointment to meet them.
Below you will find the links needed to identify your Senator and House Representative and their phone numbers. For those of you who have not experienced meeting with legislators in Tallahassee at this time of the legislative year, your appointment will be for 10-15 minutes at the most.
Steps to take to schedule a meeting and what to do when you call.
- Call and/or email your legislator and introduce yourself as a constituent of Senator or Representative. Important REMINDER—ethically and legally you should only use your personal email address and phone number in contacting your representatives.
- Request to meet with the Senator/Representative on January 18th in Tallahassee and secure an appointment time.
- You will be asked what your subject is. You could say… We would like to meet to discuss the overall success of our students and the way school counselors impact student success, particularly HB 941 (for Representatives) SB 1404 for Senators. You might add, “I know this is a busy time for Senator/Representative _____ and I appreciate having a few minutes to talk with him/her”.
If the response is that you will meet with an Aide or Staff, this is fine!
- As you secure an appointment with each, please email FSCA (fsca@fla-schoolcounselor.org) the following;
- Name of legislator
- Time of the appointment
- Office number of your legislator
This link sends you to the State Senate.
This link should provide access to both your State Senator and House Representative.
Prior to January 18th (More information will come once you confirm your attendance).
Read about your legislator so you know something about them
- What committees he/she serves on, schooling, children?
- What they look like?
If you do not meet directly with the legislator, you will most likely meet with the legislative assistants (LA). On the websites, the names of the legislative assistants are listed so you can be familiar with their names as well. These people are just as important as they are frequently the ones who do research and condense the information into what the issues are and EXPLAIN to the Senator/Representative the impact/importance and/or downside to an issue.
UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE in the DAY ON THE HILL?
You may fulfill the same advocacy goal by contacting your representatives for an appointment in their home office.
Again, if you are interested in attending, please email fsca@fla-schoolcounselor.org by January 15, 2022.
Once we receive your email response, we will provide you with ways to advocate at your school/district in hopes for you to obtain their support for your attendance, travel information, and a one-page handout for you to reference in your advocacy efforts and leave at your scheduled meetings.
Sincerely,
FSCA Advocacy Team
