Effects of technology
Earlier rallies in the 1970s and 1980s did not have the benefit of the internet or social media for communication at the time of the last big rally in 1988. Most of the “historic level of contact from constituents” this time was driven by social media, Kennedy said. Today’s advocates also had the benefit of watching the proceedings as they happened – from anywhere.
“You had teachers, parents, everyday people, watching the KET livestream at their house, and not only watching it but commenting on it as it’s happening, tweeting comments out,” he said. Legislators were looking at their cellphones during committee meetings, reading constituent messages.
Page was an active tweeter during the session, retweeting and target-tweeting to her area legislators and those on the budget conference committee. “I used the #KYGA18 a lot, knowing that a lot of them check that hashtag, particularly my legislators,” she explained.
One of the infographics designed by the Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services
to reinforce the common messages of its member districts. Graphic courtesy of the co-op.
Member districts in Razor’s co-op devised several common messages to share with lawmakers before and during the session, and used figures that showed the effect of proposed cuts on the entire region for maximum impact. They designed related infographics for all the member districts and leaders to post (see example, top right).
“People will read letters, but they really like graphics that simplify it,” Razor said. “and we saw it go all over the state, different people retweeting it.”
Future activism?
Kennedy is confident this kind of interest and advocacy will continue, aided by social media and other technology. “I think once the genie is out of the bottle, people all across the state are understanding that they can log on and watch meetings like this and follow them live, that they can directly reach out and contact their legislator almost instantaneously with their concerns,” he said.
Razor said the Northern Kentucky co-op is already planning a campaign for late summer or early fall based on the message of “because I said I would” that they heard from a speaker at KSBA’s annual conference in March.
Perhaps more important than the immediate impact of educators’ focus on Frankfort will be the effects that Moore and others believe will continue. “I think this sends everybody a strong message that if you don’t stay in touch with what’s going on in Frankfort, there’s a lot of things they can do and you don’t even know about it until it becomes law, and then it’s too late,” he said. “I think that teachers and educators will be more attentive to what’s going on in Frankfort – and they should be; that’s not a bad thing.”
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