New Voting Tools – from TEV partner RYHT
We at Raise Your Hand Texas are excited to announce the launch of our 2020 public education advocacy initiative, For the Future. We believe that every session should be an education session, and we know that one of the best ways to do that is to make sure public education supporters make their voices heard during election season. Our initiative provides three opportunities to help supporters do just that:
- Make a plan to vote–and help others do the same. People are busy and may not be familiar with the process of voting. Making a vote plan — in which a person commits not just to voting, but identifies a date, time, and place for doing so — is helpful for ensuring that good intentions turn into concrete actions. A 2010 study of over 287,000 voters found that people who made a vote plan were 4.1 percent more likely to vote, and that number jumped to 9.1 percent for those living in single-voter households. Use our handy vote plan template to make your own plan and engage others by sharing it with friends or passing them out at a school meeting.
- Let your neighbors know that you are a voter who supports public education. During election season, many of our front yards fill up with signs for particular candidates. Share your support for public schools, no matter what your party or candidate preference is, with one of our “I support public education and I vote” yard signs. Reach out to your local Raise Your Hand Texas regional advocacy director for more information.
- Attend a candidate forum or town hall near you. Learn what candidates are saying about important public education issues around the state by attending one of our 40+ candidate forums or town halls. Lawmakers respond to the issues their constituents care about. One way to let every candidate, challenged or unchallenged, know that we want public education to continue to be a top priority for the Texas Legislature is by showing up at one of these events. You can find a list of all events and RSVP here. Continue to check back in the next couple of weeks as we add more events.
These resources and more information can be found at VoteTxEd.org. We know that none of us can do the important work of increasing voter turnout, supporting public education, and building a stronger democracy alone. Raise Your Hand Texas is honored to join Texas Educators Vote in this work!
Libby Cohen
Guest TEV Blogger
Director of Advocacy and Outreach, Raise Your Hand Texas