June State Board of EED Meeting Talking Points | Sample Letters
Telephone Tips | Letter Greetings | E-mail Tips | Letter Writing Tips
Contact AK State Board of EED | Legislators

Telephone | Letter Greetings | Letter Writing | E-mail | Mail

Calling your representative's office is an effective means of voicing your opinion. After you've located the phone number of your legislator, the Governor or Lt. Governor, then remember the following tips:

• Phones are usually answered by aides. Ask to speak with the aide who is in charge of handling education issues. Get the name of the aide to whom you are speaking. Have a pencil and paper on hand so that you can write down her/his questions, answers or comments. Be prepared for the fact that they may not have a favorable opinion of homeschooling.

• Identify yourself to the aide and tell them you would like to leave a brief message for Representative/Senator "Full Name Here". Make your comments brief and to the point.

  • "I support/oppose 'Number of Bill/Resolution'"

  • "My reasons for supporting/opposing this bill/resolution is..."

  • "I would like him to know about a regulation issue that is unfair and that I do not believe is in keeping with the law."

• Make certain to ask for your Representative's/Senator's position on homeschooling. (check our website first to see if s/he has already left a P in the survey. They may still need information.

• Be polite and courteous regardless of your Legislator's position. Remember that "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar".

• You can also request that a written response be sent to you concerning your phone call.

• Contact us at AHEA@AHEAnow.org and let us know what questions you were asked and what comments were made.

Letter Greetings | Letter Writing | Telephone | E-mail | Mail

Letter Writing Tips | Telephone | E-mail | Mail | Letter Greetings

Tips For Writing

1. Create a rough draft in a word processing program.
2. Make the purpose of your letter apparent in the first paragraph (or add a "RE:" line just above the salutation).
3. Be polite and respectful. Remember that, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar".
4. Short and succinct is always best.
5. It is best to address only one issue at a time, but if there are several issues that are within the same context as the main issue you are addressing, then feel free to comment on those, too.
6. Explain any negative impact (of regulations or policies) on the education of your children or other homeschoolers that you know.
7. Use examples which support your position whenever applicable
8. Identify yourself as a homeschooler.
9. Use your alternate email, if you have one, and not the email address provided by your homeschooling program.
10. Have a friend review your comments because input always has more weight if it is written without spelling or grammatical errors.
11. Remember your audience. Spend time on a re-read asking yourself, “If I were the Governor, State Board member and read this, would I want to listen to more.”
12. Please send us a copy of what you write. We will make your comments available to legislators who will help our cause!

E-mail | Telephone | Letter Greetings | Letter Writing | Mail

When sending email, follow the guidelines explained in Mail:

• One paragraph and a picture of your family with children is best.

• URL's, too, are usually ignored by the recipient in the Legislator's office.

  • If a particular website or page holds information which you feel is important to the point you are trying to make then add a "Further Data/Info: 'URL'" at the end of your correspondence, but do not rely on your legislator's office to check this link IT IS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE TO INCLUDE THIS INFORMATION YOURSELF!
    

Mail| Telephone | Letter Greetings | Letter Writing | E-mail

By far the best choice for getting attention to your letter is to send it via The United States Postal Service. Here are some helpful ways of making sure your letter gets noticed (here, again, your letter may never be seen by the legislator during the session because your legislator counts on their staff to keep tabs on issues:

• For Legislators, the Governor and Lt. Governor, always address your envelope to The Honorable "Full Name Here".

• Make the purpose of your letter apparent in the first paragraph (or add a "RE:" line just above the salutation).

• It is best if your letter during the session is only one to two paragraphs long. During the interim you can elaborate a little more; but brevity will be considered and read more often than not.

• If your correspondence specifically addresses a particular piece of legislation, then be sure to identify it.

• It is best to address only one issue at a time, but if there are several issues that are within the same context as the main issue you are addressing, then feel free to comment on those, too.

• It is very important to be courteous and respectful. Remember that "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar".

• Make your letter brief and to the point. Attempt to limit the letter to one page if at all possible.
  

  • Include pertinent information

  • Use examples which support your position whenever applicable

• When making the salutation, be certain to address your Congressman as Representative/Senator "Full Name Here".

• If your letter is going to the Speaker of the House or to the Chair of a Committee, be sure to address them as:
  "Mr./Madam Speaker" or "Mr. Chairman/Madam Chairwoman"

June State Board of EED Meeting Talking Points | Sample Letters
Telephone Tips | Letter Greetings | E-mail Tips | Letter Writing Tips
Contact AK State Board of EED | Legislators