The following advocacy guidelines appear in the High School Director's Communication Kit. Permission is granted by the Hal Leonard Corporation to reprint them.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Unite with other teachers on the music staff. The music department must be unified with itself, totally committed to providing the highest caliber of music education for children. Infighting cannot be tolerated.

2. Be sure your actions are always student-centered. The "I don't want to lose my job" approach is not as effective as the potential lost benefits to children and their overall development in our educational system.

3. You are not alone. Get to know your music parents, community officials, business leaders, etc. Cultivate them for your team. A united effort involving multiple community resources creates a strong and powerful force.

4. Use numbers to your advantage. Music is offered to all students. Use the total number of students enrolled in your public (or private) school district or state when discussing the benefits of music education.

5. Define your purpose. Develop a mission statement. Succinctly state your purpose for involvement in music education. Make this concise document available to anyone who visits your classroom.

6. Get to know your administrator, school board members, and school counselors. Send them invitations to concerts. Ask them how they feel about arts and music education. If they oppose arts in schools, ask them why. The key is to listen, not react and defend. Find out the percentage of funding available to all other school programs.

7. Work with your local music dealer, community service clubs, industry leaders, etc. Become acquainted with these community leaders. Invite them to concerts, band parent meetings, advocacy sessions, school board events, and/or daily rehearsals.

8. Know your local and state legislators. Find out your local state legislators' names (and the names of their staff), addresses, phone and fax numbers. Ask your music parents if any of them have assisted during one of their campaigns. Ask these government officials how they feel about arts education. Invite them to your concerts, and send them your mission statement.

9. Schedule a concert where all groups perform at the same event. Provide an impressive showcase of talent and educational consistency within the department by performing a concert involving all grades K-12 music students.

10. Set up a phone tree/fax system for efficient communication. Communicate frequently with parents, government officials, community leaders, and anyone who should be interested in supporting arts education for students.

WHAT PARENTS CAN DO:

Music parents are often willing to help, but may not know what to do or where to begin. Here are a few starting points.

1. Ask school board members about their views on arts and music education. Be positive. Do not be defensive if an administrator or school board official opposes arts education. Simply get the facts, preferably in writing. Ask questions.

2. Organize your parent group. If you are an independent group (not under the auspices of PTA or other parent groups), you'll need to develop by-laws, appoint a board of directors, and apply for charitable deduction status.

3. Attend school board meetings. Observe the process, personalities, and effective persuasive techniques. Always be polite and cordial to school board members.

4. Work with the music staff to develop a mission statement. Keep children's education as the focal point, not entertainment events or music trips.

5. Organize and print a calendar of local music events for all nearby schools. Include all school concerts, festivals, as well as professional groups appearing in the area. Send the calendar to school board members, administrators, all school parents, government officials, and your local newspaper.

6. Assemble the concert program for the music teacher. Offer to enter type on a computer disc, or take responsibility for producing the entire program. Be sure to include the correct spelling of every student, director, administrator, and custodian who helped with the event. The music teacher may also provide composer backgrounds and program notes for the concert program.

7. Invite officials to speak and/or conduct at concerts. Develop a rotating schedule with the music teacher, and include administrators, school board members, community leaders, and government officials. Write thank-you notes to every person who speaks or conducts the group during a music concert.

8. Start an after-school lesson program. Offer scholarships for first- and second-year students to study with local or area teachers.

9. Help establish a student mentoring program. The music teacher might want to "pair up" an elementary or middle school student with a high school student. During post- concert refreshment time, mingle with other parents to make them feel they are a part of the music family.

10. Call the music teacher(s) regularly, and simply offer to help. Often, there is typing to do, ticket sales, bookkeeping, distributing uniforms, arranging trips, helping with the props for musicals, etc. A number of important tasks always await the music teacher.