March 20, 2024 PMEA Advocacy Day Information – Pennsylvania Music Educators Association

Wednesday, March 20th – You are invited to join PMEA in Harrisburg on Wednesday, March 20th to meet with policymakers. We will ask that you make an appointment with your state representative and state senator.

PARTICIPATE IN PERSON

If you are coming to Harrisburg, and have not let PMEA know, please email us at advocacy@pmea.net so we can provide you with all of the details.

PARTICIPATE VIRTUALLY

For those not attending in person. all music education advocates will be able to advocate to their state representatives via an online form PMEA will distribute. This will literally take just a minute and your participation is extremely helpful in our advocacy efforts.

WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU’RE JOINING US IN HARRISBURG

Since March 20th is a session day in the state legislature, It is possible to schedule a meeting with your representative. However it is possible you will be scheduled for a meeting with a staffer. There is nothing wrong with that and in many cases can be advantageous.

The capitol complex can be a bit confusing. There will be maps on site but you’ll want to make sure to leave at least 10-15 minutes to get to your meeting from the Main Rotunda or the Irvis Office Building.

PMEA will hold a press conference in the Rotunda on Advocacy Day at 11:30 am. There will also be performances in the capitol building from Pennsylvania schools at 11 am, noon, and 1 pm.

Rotunda
11 a.m. Conestoga High School Camerata, Nathan Shughart, Director
12 p.m. Palmyra Area High School Chorus, Alexis Farrell, Director

East Wing
12 p.m. North Penn High School Chamber Strings, Erica Milbourne, Director

Also, for those attending in person, we will provide you with a document to share with your representatives. Because we want to make sure every member of the General Assembly receives our message about the importance of music education, we will also ask for some assistance in dropping off these documents to offices where no in-person meetings are scheduled.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A MEETING

When you are in your meetings, explain who PMEA is and then discuss our legislative asks, which you can find below. Do not discuss other issues. You are representing PMEA and the music education profession. It’s important to have a consistent and unified message from all of our members. If you are asked a question and you don’t know the answer, just say that you will find out and get back to them. If you’ve never been in a legislative meeting, there’s nothing to be nervous about. You’ll find that those you meet with are genuinely interested in listening to you. Always take a card of those you are meeting with and follow up with a thank you email.

It’s possible you will receive some pushback on any of our issues. That’s the nature of how the process works. Remember to stay on message with the talking points provided. Your job is to explain the issues and show representatives where issues exist. Their job is to work on a solution.