The Duniway PTA Advocacy Committee (DAC)
Oregon's schools have to do a lot with too little, and our kids pay the price. Some of that gets fixed close to home, in whether a family can take part in school life and whether a child gets the support they need. Some of it gets fixed in Salem, by people who need to hear what is actually happening in our classrooms. We work on both, and this year we divided the work into roles so that no one has to carry it alone.
DAC is open to families, educators, and community members alike. The work doesn't require expertise, only a willingness to take part.
What we've done so far
In 2024-2025, we put on a public school funding forum that drew more than 200 people and local news coverage. Last year we sent over 700 postcards to legislators, joined Community and Parents for Public Schools for their Lobby Day in Salem, and testified on a state revenue bill, some of us for the first time. We also started Coffee with Constituents, where an elected official joins Principal Coffee and stays afterward so parents can talk with them directly.
2026-27 Committee Initiatives
Public Education Advocacy and Funding Reform. We'll keep advocating for education policy and funding at the state level through the 2027 long session, pushing for tax reform that prioritizes public education and making the case for sustainable school funding alongside educators, families, and union leaders. We work closely with CPPS, whose Lobby Day we join each session.
Special Education. We'll build connections across the district and bring the experiences of students with disabilities to the people shaping policy, pushing for special education that is equitable, inclusive, and fully funded.
Inclusion and Belonging. We'll advocate for a Duniway where every family feels welcome and represented, looking honestly at who isn't showing up to school events and why, whether that's cost, childcare, or something else.
Clear Information for Families. Decisions get made at Portland Public Schools, at the school board, and in the legislature, usually before families hear about them. We'll follow what's happening and pass it along in plain language, early enough to act on.
Community Engagement. Public schools belong to the whole neighborhood, not only to the families currently in them. We'll keep bringing elected officials to Coffee with Constituents, build relationships with other schools and our neighborhood association, and bring the DAC to where our neighbors already gather.
We're tentatively planning to meet the second Sunday of each month, 10 to 11am, at a park when the weather allows and virtually when it doesn't.
Every role below is yours to shape around your own strengths. Take a look and pick the one that fits your interests and the time you have.
We'd love to have you. If none of these feel right and you still want in, email Margaret or Tracy and we'll find something that does.
Positions (4/9 filled)
Committee Co-Chair Signed Up: 2 / 2Set the committee's direction, decide what we take on and what we let go, and represent Duniway to the PTA, the district, and outside partners. Run our monthly meetings, keep track of what was decided and who's doing it, and make the first introduction when a lead needs a door opened.
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Communications Lead Signed Up: 1 / 1Writes for the committee: the newsletter, committee-wide emails, event and recruitment copy, and pieces for the Duniway Dispatch. Also gathers stories from families about what's actually happening in their kids' classrooms, and helps them shape those stories for testimony, op-eds, and meetings with legislators.
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Elected Official Lead Signed Up: 1 / 1You're our connection to government: state legislators, city and county officials, the school board. The job is knowing them before we need them, so that when a school funding bill comes up, Duniway is already a name they recognize. In practice that's meeting requests, a cold email now and then, inviting an official to Coffee with Constituents, and coordinating our group's meetings on Lobby Day, the one day each session when CPPS brings parents from across Portland to Salem. Our policy strategist, a parent volunteer who follows Oregon education policy closely, briefs you on the substance, so you're never the expert in the room. Busiest January through March.
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Policy Lead Signed Up: 1 / 1Follows Oregon education and fiscal policy: which bills are moving, what the state budget is doing, when a decision point is coming. Advises the committee on what deserves our attention and when, and briefs the rest of us so nobody has to become an expert to take part. Works most closely with the Elected Officials Lead and the Postcard Campaign Lead on timing.
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Special Education Lead Signed Up: 0 / 1Talk with Duniway families who have kids in special education and find out what's working and what isn't. Connect with the statewide organizations that support these families, and bring what you learn back so our committee can raise it with the people making policy. If you've navigated an IEP yourself, you already know most of what this role needs.
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Inclusion and Belonging Lead Signed Up: 0 / 1Figure out who isn't showing up to school events, and why. Some of that is asking families directly, some is looking at what we're already doing and spotting what gets in the way, whether that's cost, timing, childcare, language, or never having been asked. You'd bring what you find to the committee as recommendations, and we'd take them to the PTA together.
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Partnerships Lead Signed Up: 0 / 1You're our connection to other groups: advocacy organizations, other schools, our neighborhood association. Where the Elected Officials Lead works the government side, you work the community side. That means keeping in touch with the groups already doing this work, bringing what they offer back to us, and getting the DAC to the neighborhood events where our families and neighbors already gather.
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Postcard Campaign Manager Signed Up: 0 / 1Run our postcards-to-legislators campaign. Recruit tabling volunteers, set up signing tables at PTA events, write a suggested message so nobody stalls on a blank card, and get them in the mail while a bill is still in committee, which is when they carry the most weight. We sent more than 700 last year. Mostly January through March, with a little planning in the fall.
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Social Media Manager Signed Up: 0 / 1Post about what the committee is doing, so the news reaches the families who aren't on Konstella and the neighbors who don't have kids at Duniway but still vote on school funding. That's event photos, plain-language explanations of what's happening in Salem, and clear asks when we need people to show up or speak up. You're posting on behalf of the whole committee, so the tone stays professional and welcoming, but the voice within that is yours to shape, along with platform and cadence. Anything about a specific bill or elected official gets a quick check with a co-chair or our policy lead first. Everything else, just post it.
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