Legislative Conference

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Notes from the Backpack Podcast


National PTA Legislative Conference

PTA Takes Action for Kids

Join us March 10-12 for the 2020 National PTA Legislative Conference (LegCon) to network with fellow PTA advocates, meet with policymakers, hear PTA advocacy success stories and learn how to shape public policy on Capitol Hill and at home.

LegCon will be held just steps away from Washington, DC. You’ll be joined by your fellow PTA members and other passionate advocates who will share advanced advocacy skills and tactics to help you meet your policy goals.

Don’t miss the chance to expand your knowledge of the ins and outs of federal law, grow your advocacy skills, explore National PTA’s legislative priorities for the 116th Congress, and meet with your federal representatives on Capitol Hill.

Registration Deadline

The final day for registration is Friday, March 6 at 5 p.m. EST. No exceptions will be made to this deadline, and there will be no onsite registration.

Tickets for LegCon have sold out the last two years. Don’t delay!



LegCon, the Coronavirus and You?

There are several questions and concerns circulating regarding the appropriate precautionary measures around the coronavirus and the flu as news of these health threats continues to develop. Here’s what we can tell you:

LegCon is still on! We are still scheduled to have our conference March 10 - 12, 2020.

Get latest info from the CDC. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided some best practices and basic precautions for travel and prevention.

Using healthy habits is your best bet. Keep up the same good hygiene measures and other everyday precautions that you practice during cold and flu season.

  • As you travel, use disinfecting wipes on all surfaces that you will touch.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • Frequently wash your hands with soap and water, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
  • If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Onsite at the Hotel. The Westin Alexandria Old Town will offer extra precautions for guests and conference attendees:

  • There will be hand sanitizer available throughout the hotel.
  • Bathrooms are regularly refreshed and cleaned with anti-virus cleaner, as recommended by OSHA.
  • Guestrooms will be cleaned with anti-virus solution. However, as usual, if a guest has Do Not Disturb sign on their door, then housekeeping will not clean the room.

What?! No hugs, fist bumps or handshakes? We recommend that you refrain from hugging and shaking hands during the conference. Here are alternative ways to greet others:

  • Simply say hello and wave
  • Give an engaging oral greeting
  • Put one hand over your heart and smile/nod at whomever you greet.
  • Press your hands together, as in prayer, with a small bow of the head.
  • Air kiss, air high-five and air fist bump—all the action and affection, but no contact.

If you decide not to attend LegCon, please contact Meetings@PTA.org.


Keynote Speaker: Rodney Robinson
National Teacher of the Year


Rodney Robinson

Rodney Robinson became a teacher 19 years ago to honor his mother, who struggled to receive an education after being denied an education as a child due to segregation and poverty in rural Virginia. In 2015, Robinson started teaching at Virgie Binford Education Center, which is inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center. He uses a whole-child, civic-centered educational approach that promotes social-emotional growth to help his students thrive, and works to create alternative programs to divert students from the school-to-prison pipeline.

Robinson has been published three times by Yale University and has received numerous awards for his accomplishments in and out of the classroom, most notably the R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence. He works with Richmond city leaders and local colleges to recruit underrepresented male teachers into the field of education.



Thursday Session Speaker: Dr. Jim Johnson
Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Jim Johnson

Dr. Jim Johnson is the distinguished professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, and director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He examines the causes and consequences of growing inequality in American society—particularly as it affects socially and economically disadvantaged youth.

Johnson’s extensive research includes finding strategies to combat hyper-segregation, persistent and concentrated poverty, and gentrification-induced residential and economic dislocations in U.S. cities. He uses his findings to work with gentrifying cities to develop roadmaps for inclusive and equitable economic development that creates shared prosperity.

Johnson has published over 100 scholarly research articles and was profiled in Fast Company’s “Hopes and Dreams.” His latest book is “Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angles."


Questions?

Email LegCon@pta.org.

Interested in sponsoring the 2020 Legislative Conference? Please contact Amaia Stecker at astecker@PTA.org.

For registration, travel or hotel accommodations, please email NPTAMeetings@PTA.org.

LegCon Photo Collage