Legislative Program

The NYS PTA Legislative Program forms our basis for advocacy and is comprised of the following documents: Basic Policy, “Where We Stand,” and Legislative Directives. These documents reflect adopted positions that guide and prioritize member actions to improve laws, regulations, policies and conditions on issues that affect the education, health and welfare of children. By directing our advocacy through formalized positions we unite our efforts to speak on behalf of every child with one voice. Use the following links to guide your unit, council or region to take action on a local, state or national level.

Below are great tools to help you with your advocacy work:

Advocacy Calendar – Provides monthly examples of easy to implement advocacy ideas

Advocacy Guide – An overview of the NYS PTA Mission, with contacts for Advocacy Team Members

Basic Policy – NYS PTA is a nonpartisan organization concerned with the education, care and protection of children and youth. Positions are policies adopted by National PTA and New York State PTA and provide the basis for PTA advocacy efforts. This policy represents all resolutions as found in “Where We Stand” and other documents.

Legislative Priorities – Legislative Priorities are the issues that have been prioritized to focus NYS PTA advocacy efforts for the upcoming year. After careful consideration, the priorities are recommended by the NYS PTA Advocacy Team and voted upon by the NYS PTA Board of Directors at their November meeting. While legislative priorities target our efforts, they do not limit or exclude other issues from our attention.

Where We Stand – “Where We Stand” is the official position document of the New York State PTA. It is comprised of resolution statements adopted by convention delegates. These statements are intended to guide members as to what action to take on specific issues that affect the education, health and welfare of children and youth. Also included in this official document are New York State PTA’s Position Papers. Position Papers represent the research of the NYS PTA Board of Directors and are approved by this body. Position Papers provide guidelines on various issues and are equal in importance to Resolutions as a basis for advocacy. Both adopted Resolutions and Position Papers are reviewed every seven years by the New York State PTA Resolutions Committee. “Where We Stand” is updated annually to reflect actions taken at the NYS PTA Annual Convention in November and sent in January to region board members and unit/council presidents statewide.