What You Can Do: Six Actions for Local Education

Attend and/or participate in a school board meeting

Whether you sit and listen or sign up to speak, watching a school board meeting shows that you care about students and keeping leadership accountable. You can also watch a school board meeting online, if you are unable to attend in person.

Districts post their school board meeting calendars online with information about how you can participate in person or online.

If you want to speak at the board meeting (in person or virtually) or if you want to submit a written public comment to the school board, here's how you do it:

2. Sign a petition

Petitions are a way to create an impact by using our voices collectively. We urge you to read, sign, and share the petitions linked below:

Demanding a Well-Rounded Education for K-5 Students in Springfield School District
Springfield Bridge Plan: "A thoughtful, community-driven alternative to proposed budget cuts. Through shared sacrifice now and a public levy in May, we can protect our educators and build toward a sustainable future."

3. Seek information and stay informed

Subscribe to, follow on social media, or pick up print copies of local publications:

Listen to locally produced news at KLCC 89.7 FM on your radio or by streaming it from KLCC.org

4. Write a Letter to the Editor

Share your thoughts in writing and online:

Lookout Eugene-Springfield Letters to the Editor: "Share your thoughts by sending a letter to the editor. Email us at lte@lookoutlocal.com. Include your full name, address and phone number for verification only. Letters should be 350 words or fewer. Please, no personal attacks, inaccuracies or vulgarities."

Eugene Weekly: "Letters to the editor should be less than 250 words, preferably 200 words, and sent to letters@eugeneweekly.com along with your address and phone number or valid contact information to verify who you are. We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows, though do we exercise discretion over what we print in our pages while retaining the voice of community members. Letters will be copy edited for grammar and spelling and check for factual accuracy when possible. We give priority given to timely local issues, responses to articles and letters in EW and letters received before Friday at 5 pm. While critiques are welcome, letters should avoid personal attacks and hate speech is not tolerated. Please send your letter in the body of your email. For those who prefer not to use email, fax to 541-484-4044 or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. We recognize there many people EW and the community need to hear from who do not have access to a computer, and encourage you to write to us, just know that if we have to re-type your letter for you, it may slightly delay publication."

Register-Guard: Send your letter to letters@registerguard.com

5. Talk with teachers and principals

Please keep in mind that teachers and principals are very busy. They are also prevented from sharing their opinions about a number of issues during school hours, so they may be nervous about speaking freely.

To have a candid and productive conversation with a teacher or a principal, consider the following:

If possible, arrange to talk with them off-campus and outside of school hours.
Be brief and specific. Plan a question or two ahead of time that could be answered without a complicated narrative.
Ask how you can help.
Assume good intentions. Talking with a teacher or principal can be confusing, because their jobs require them to know and use a great deal of education-speak, school jargon, and acronyms. It's perfectly understandable to a teacher or a principal if you need an explanation of something they said, so don't hesitate to kindly ask for clarification.
Keep in mind that official school email addresses are the property of the school district, so emails may be read by district administrators. Most teachers have a non-work email address that they may be willing to provide you.

6. If your yard has good visibility, display a lawn sign or a sign of support in your window.

The teachers' union (Springfield Education Association) and candidates running for public office are always looking for people to display their messages.