Advocacy from Home is a program by Family Protection Ministries that equips private homeschooling families so that they can engage with their elected representatives locally in an effective way. This is accomplished through online video training, working with Family Protection Ministries, and your visits with your state legislators as you deliver the Homeschooling Information packet to them.
Why You?
It is important that each state legislator be met by somebody who lives in their district because that is who they represent and that is who they are working to please when they are at their district office. Legislators are much more likely to listen to and care about someone who they represent and who will be in a position to vote for (or against) them in the next election.
The Homeschooling Information packet, aka the “Legislator Packet,” is a compilation of materials that homeschooling parents, families, or groups can give to their legislators to inform them about private homeschooling. It is prepared by Private & Home Educators of California, a program of FPM.
What’s in the Packet?
- Homeschooling in California: Legal Requirements
- Why We Don’t Need New Home- school Legislation
- NHERI: Home Education Reason and Research
- NHERI: The Relationship Between the Degree of State Regulation of Homeschooling and the Abuse of Homeschool Children (Students)
- NHERI: Homeschool SAT Scores for 2014 Higher Than National Average
In order to become an active Advocate From Home and receive all the materials you need to get in touch with your legislator and establish a relationship, visit our application page by clicking the button below:
To watch our Advocacy from Home Training Videos series, click the button below.
To supplement these training videos, FPM has compiled an array of resources that can be accessed through our website on the sidebar link “Advocacy from Home Resources”.
What will the advocacy training videos teach me?
Finding Your Legislators: This video will show you how to find your representatives in the state legislature using a simple online tool.
District Office Visits: This video explains the major differences between district and Capitol offices, and how you can set up an effective and productive in-person meeting with a legislator at the district office.
How California Makes Laws: This is a collection of videos that dive into the legislative process, the structure of the legislature in California, and the anatomy of a bill, all within the context of how citizens can be involved in the process and why our involvement matters.
Contacting Your Legislator: This collection of videos outlines several different ways to contact your legislator, outside of a face-to-face meeting. Writing a letter, setting up a video meeting or phone call, or dropping off information packets are all great ways to make your voice heard in your legislator’s office.
Writing Your Legislator About a Specific Issue or Bill: This video shows you how to write a letter to your legislator about a specific issue or piece of legislation.
Private vs. Public Education: This video gives the major differences between public and private education in the State of California, and how the law functions in each education system.
Tracking a California Bill: This video outlines how citizens can find, understand, and monitor California legislation in every step of the legislative process.
We need to make sure that the district office of every California state legislator is contacted by homeschool families or homeschool advocates – people who care about the freedom to homeschool privately. Why are district office contacts important? Why is it not enough to just visit their Capitol office in Sacramento?
A Legislator’s Capitol Office
The Capitol building is a busy place. It houses offices for all 120 California state legislators, it has committee hearing rooms, and it has the chambers where the state senate and state assembly debate the great issues of the day and hold important votes.
At their Capitol offices, legislators have their attentions spread very thin between everything going on in the Capitol. Often, legislators have their days taken up by committee hearings, floor sessions, and short, 15-minute meetings from 7am to 7pm or later.
A Legislator’s District Office
Back at the district, things are calmer and less hectic. A legislator will have more time there to discuss issues specific to the district and to really connect with the people of the district that he or she represents.
At the district office, a legislator is focused on the needs of the district and what the issues are at home. He or she will be more likely to be sensitive to the issues brought by constituents because more likely than not, he or she will very soon need to get reelected. It’s important for both offices to be contacted by homeschoolers.
Steps to Make a Positive Difference!
- Sign up for FPM’s emails. We send out legislative updates as well as Action Alerts to notify you of dangerous legislation that must be opposed and actions to be taken. Sign up for emails at www.fpmca.org/contactus.
- Watch the Advocacy from Home Training Videos at www.fpmca.org/advmenu. These videos will help educate you on the legislative process and how to get involved in homeschool advocacy!
- Start building relationships!
- Visit your representative, whether online or in-person.
- Deliver the Legislator Packet to your state legislators.
- Mail them a letter of introduction or about a specific issue.
- Invite your state representatives to a homeschooling event that you are involved in, such as a science fair or speech and debate tournament. Seeing the homeschooling community in action will give them insight into the issues with which you are concerned.