AR Handbook – 41
Committee members work with
the NJEA Government Relations
Division staff to organize members
for political action in their counties
through county Legislative Action
Teams (LAT). County LATs should
have at least one representative on
the LAT from each local. The local
LAT rep then organizes the local for
political action.
As an AR, you play a key role in
organizing for legislative action.
You need to help the LAT rep find
members in your building to serve
as building LAT reps, and help them
promote NJEA’s positions on legislation
and regulation and organize
members for political action. If your
local association does not have an
LAT rep and structure, you need to
fill that role until that structure is
created.
Organize your local association
for political action:
• Create a structure for your local
association’s LATs – both for
sharing information and for
taking action when needed.
• Recruit volunteers for election
and other NJEA activities.
• Encourage members to support
NJEA PAC-endorsed candidates.
• Be a fundraiser for NJEA PAC.
Communicate with members of
your local, your county LAT, and
with NJEA staff:
• Stay informed by attending
county LAT meetings, legislative
conferences, and legislative
dinners.
• Inform members about
educational issues pending
before the State Legislature and
the U.S. Congress, how your
legislators voted or plan to vote
on issues, and NJEA’s positions
on issues. Do the same for
regulations pending before the
State Board of Education.
• Share information about NJEA
PAC-endorsed candidates.
• Report back to your county
LAT and to NJEA about results
of meetings with elected
and appointed officials and
the results of any grassroots
lobbying activities.
Advocate NJEA positions to
your elected and appointed
officials:
• Contact elected and appointed
officials to present your stand on
issues.
• Lead letter-writing/phone/email
campaigns as needed.
• Encourage members of your
local to contact elected and
appointed officials on important
educational issues.
• Help elected and appointed
officials understand the impact
of their decisions on the public
schools in their district.
Organizing your local
association for political
action
The local association president appoints
a local LAT rep. The LAT rep
should serve as the chair of a local
legislative action team. As an AR,
you can play an active role in helping
find members to serve on the local
team. You can also assist members
of the local legislative action team to
carry out their duties. NJEA Government
Relations and UniServ staff
are available to help.
• Encourage members of the local
to check their voter registration,
apply for vote by mail ballots as
needed, and vote in elections.
• Help keep membership
informed of legislative and
regulatory actions on a regular
basis.
• Tell members about PACendorsed
candidates and get
them involved in campaign
activities.
• Encourage members to
participate in county and state
legislative events, such as county
legislative dinners and the
Walter O’Brien NJEA Legislative
Conference.
• Prepare your local association
for lobbying. The local
association membership should
be prepared to go into action
when needed. It is helpful for
the LAT rep and AR to organize
a communication system to get
the word out and teach members
how to effectively write letters,
emails, and make phone calls
before the need arises.
How does NJEA determine
its position on proposed
legislation and regulation?
When new legislation and regulations
are proposed that affect students,
schools, or school employees
(both active and retired), NJEA staff
determines the association’s position
based on input from appropriate
NJEA committees and relevant policies
passed by the NJEA Delegate
Assembly (DA), the policy-making
body. Staff and leaders then work
together to determine the appropriate
course of action.
When members want to see the
association take action about current
law or lack thereof in a certain
area, they can ask that NJEA take
a position. The appropriate NJEA
committee studies the issue, takes
input from members and staff, and
makes a recommendation to the DA.
If the DA adopts the recommendation,
the adopted policy then goes to
NJEA Government Relations. Staff
then works to promote the idea with
policymakers.