Scrapping soda from school lunches. Common Core, Race to the Top, and No Child Left Behind. Replacing old, awesome jungle gyms with new-fangled plastic structures that are way less fun (if also way less dangerous).

As a teacher, you may be frustrated by the fact that policies on the national, state, county, and city level seem to be handed down with very little teacher input. It always looks like a handful of teachers are hand picked to give advice, but it looks like it's more or less all for show.

 

Yeah, teachers' houses definitely don't look like this

But wait. There just may be a few things we teachers can do to make our views known. Here are our quick-and-dirty tips for civic (and civilized) action:

1. Go to board meetings.

We know, more like bored meetings, are we right? But for real, being involved isn't just about making lesson plans and hoping that the education gods smile upon you; it also means getting to those meetings where the decisions get decided. This will show others that you're serious about your cause; plus it'll keep you informed about the process by which such decisions are made.

2. Get to know your board members and political representatives.

If you want your board members to "see" your problems, you're probably going to have to schmooze a little. Go up and discuss your concerns with them. Give them a face and a name to put with the problem you're trying to solve. It's harder for politicians to vote against teacher raises if they know the folks those raises (or lack thereof) directly affect.

3. Write some good old-fashioned snail mail.

There's nothing like putting it in writing. Writing a letter can show how serious you are about the issue at hand. You can do one even better if you organize a letter-writing campaign of teachers and parents. (21st-century tip: it doesn't have to be snail mail. Email and Internet petitions exist for a reason).

4. Organize teachers and parents.

You can organize far more than a letter-writing campaign (as much fun as that sounds). Rally the forces to show up to meetings when an issue comes to a head, and encourage others get to know the decision-makers along with you. It takes more than one teacher to tango.

These are just to get the ball rolling, but there's plenty you can do to help advance your issue. Just remember that even though the news usually talks about the policy-makers and other bigwigs, if it's about education, they've got to get the teacher's word in somewhere. Getting your foot in the door is the first step; stopping them from slamming it on your foot is the route to actually making a change.

It doesn't matter if you're concerned about teacher pay, standardized testing, or rules on recess. Talking with national, state, county, or city politicians and local board members can go a long way to helping made positive changes in your school.

There's one thing we know for sure: if you don't say anything, nothing will change.