WRITING LETTERS TO ELECTED OFFICIALS

Writing to our elected officials is a right of a free people, and doing so can result in genuine change. The NET periodically conducts letter-writing campaigns that address education-related legislation. 
     Periodically we ask the NET's committee chairs to organize letter-writing campaigns within their committee members' congressional districts. Here are the full instructions for doing so. 

Step 1 - Writing the letter.

• The chair asks the committee members to send both their concerns and their suggestions related to the issue. 

• Members send these concerns and suggestions to their chair.

• The chair crafts this material into a draft and sends to the members for approval.

• Members send their approval or suggest modifications.

• When the letter is finalized, the chair sends the final version to the committee members.

Step 2 - Sign the letter.

• Each committee member solicits signatures from constituents within  her or his state (for Senators) and House district. If the letter is to be sent as a hard copy, the signatures must be physically hand-written. Letters in fax form are faxed to signatories, signed, and faxed back. For emails they are signed electronically (see notes below on gathering e-signatures.) All signatures must include the signatory's city and state.

Step 3 - Send the letter.

• Committee members forward their copies of the letter to their respective elected officials. You can find contact information for members of Congress at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. Another particularly effective place to send an email letter is ESEA.Comments@mail.house.gov. This is a House repository dedicated to the NCLB debate. Also please forward a copy to Dennis Fehr, NET Director.

Helpful Hints for Writing the Letters 

• Use plain language.

• Be concise.

• Citing sources can lend scholarly credibility, but no one is likely to check them. A well reasoned argument means more.

• A professional, positive tone is more persuasive than a scolding. Complimenting officials for laudable work before launching into negatives is wise.

• Stay on point. One issue per letter is advisable.

Helpful Hints for Signing the Letters 

• A letter with multiple signatures wields greater weight, especially when the signatories are the official's constituents.

• E-letters can be "signed" by having signatories email their permission, including name, city and state. Simply copy these three items and paste them at the bottom of the letter to be emailed.

• If you use e-signatures, create an email folder for storing these permission notes for future reference. This removes the need to rebuild lists of signatories each time we send a letter. (Obviously, get the signatory's approval for each letter).

• If the letters refer to a current law that is being debated, submitting suggestions for revisions in legislative language will sometimes increase the likelihood of their being adopted. An example of a NET-generated legislative language proposal is at http://www.natedtaskforce.org/NCLB_responses/Arts_legislative_language.htm  

• For letters addressing the NCLB reauthorization, committees can use their NCLB statements, accessed at http://www.natedtaskforce.org/NCLB_statement/NCLB_statement_proposals.htm.

• View  a sample letter at this link: Teacher Preparation and Assessment Committee NCLB letter.

Please email me your suggestions for additions and corrections to this page. It is accessible from the NET's home page.
Best wishes,
Dennis