Since their creation in the late 1960s, the Governmental Affairs Committee has worked with state lobbyists to help set political agendas aside to push their “agenda of education.” Each year, members of the Illinois Association of Health and Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (IAHPERD) organize and participate in Shape Up Illinois, an event at the state capitol to show a passion about the issues affecting schools, as well as educate legislators about the importance and why the students of Illinois need quality, and daily physical education.
Through their work at Shape Up Illinois, members have been able to get face-to-face contact at the State Capitol with law makers to provide an educator perspective on best practices for health and physical education. Deb Vogel, retired physical educator and Shape Up Illinois Chair, described, “we educate, we advocate, and we lobby. … We [may not] have a bill [every year], but we will educate them.”
During the event, the committee creates and shares informational resources with legislators about the organization, elements of quality health and physical education, standards and outcomes, and key resolutions or bills that impact schools, children, and teachers. Here is an example of informational packet the Governmental Affairs Committee shared with legislators in 2023. Attendees are also encouraged to contact their legislators to set up individual appointments while at the state capitol building.
Laura Nussle, chair of the committee described the opportunity she had to host a state legislator at her school (Oswego East High School, Illinois) for a day after a Shape Up Illinois event. The Senator got to observe health, PE, and adapted PE classes and interact with students during lunch. She described how powerful it was for the students, staff and for the legislator. Laura noted that the legislator “left feeling very energized and wanting to help us move forward on another cause that we're going to move for in the 2024 year which is dealing with PE waivers.”
Members expressed the value of connecting with state-level policy makers to be just as important as working at the national level – and perhaps more important because it may take years to have an impact on federal policy, however Deb Vogel believes that advocating at the state level has “the potential to have an immediate impact on what's going on in K – 12 schools for the betterment of K – 12 students.”
Successes of the advocacy work done with the support of Governmental Affairs Committee include the passing of a state bill that created a task force to update and rewrite the state standards to immediately impact K-12 students and curriculum. Most recently, the result of the state-level lobbying has resulted in the passing of a hiring act, that benefitted physical education, visual arts and music teachers by requiring PK-6 teachers in those areas to be licensed in the particular area that they will be teaching. This will have an immediate effect for both teachers and students.
Separately, from the successes of passed legislation, Dr. Mary Henninger, professor at Illinois State University and member of the Governmental Affairs Committee, shared her perspective from a higher education standpoint that the value of advocacy opportunities, such as the Shape Up Illinois Day, serves as an avenue to involve future professions in promoting the profession and helping legislators interact with the next generation of physical educators. She states, “Getting the undergraduate students involved is really important for the health of the organization and for the legislation moving forward.” By providing undergraduate students with the chance to see advocacy success, she believes it “translates theory to practice” and shows students how important their voices and stories are, and how their voices can be heard by those in power to make a difference in the classroom.
While many states may not have a well-established Governmental Affairs Committee to help with educating and advocating, committee members stress that building relationships with those in power is the key to advocacy work whether at the state or local levels. Judy Tiggelaar, retired physical educator and committee member states:
The hallmarks of Shape Up Illinois Day [include] going down and meeting face-to-face with legislators. We're building that relationship. The same could be said at your local school level. It's inviting your school administrator, and it's inviting your school board members in and building that relationship so that those people in decision-making positions come into your teaching environment, they see what best practice is, and you build those relationships with those decision makers. They key is to understand that anything connected with education and policy, it's about building relationships.
We leave you with the same piece of advice Dr. Henninger concluded our interview with, “waiting until you have all the answers is something that stalls a lot of us. So sometimes you just have to take the leap of faith that you can make a difference, and maybe that’s the biggest piece of advice, don’t wait. Now’s the time.”
Written with Emily Jones, Physical Education Teacher Education Faculty, Illinois State University