Washington in April.

Have you ever wanted to tell off your member of Congress? Scream at your senator? Throttle the Secretary of Education?

AASA has the perfect plan for lugubrious school leaders beset by lousy laws. Come to Washington next month.

Maybe you've never been to your nation's capital. Perhaps it's been quite awhile since the last visit. Or you've been here but never lifted the latch of your legislators' doorway.

Easy Access

Washington in April usually offers exceptional weather so your participation in AASA's Legislative Advocacy Conference offers you the perfect combination of learning the issues and meeting your federal legislators in their element so you can make your mark on education policy.

This second annual conference is similar to the former "I Care" and "We Care" meetings run previously by AASA in that you receive first-class information in Washington from top experts on K-12 education. This new conference also couples the presentations with the opportunity to spend an intense day on Capitol Hill, educating your senators and representatives on what is truly important back home--the education of the next generation of our nation's workers and leaders.

Most members of the House and Senate get their education policy facts from two sources--a legislative assistant or their own recollections of what school was like for them. In either case, these sources tend to lack on-the-ground knowledge of how schools work and what school leaders face each day in an effort to nurture young minds. That's where you enter the picture.

No more important person enters congressional portals than the voting constituent from each legislator's home district. So when you pay your visit to the congressional office buildings you'll experience courtly receptionists and aides who know how critical it is to make a good impression on those they represent.

Plus, you come not just as a constituent, but also as a respected community leader connected to hundreds or thousands of students, parents and faculty members. You possess the inside knowledge of schools and how they work, details these public servants lack.

Beginning in early afternoon on April 18, you'll be treated with a thorough and uniquely humorous performance on the federal money outlook as insider Stan Collender presents "The Maltese Budget." You'll also learn about the public's perception of No Child Left Behind via the executive director of Phi Delta Kappa. The opening day will be topped off by AASA staff briefings on the effort to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

A Personal Stamp

The AASA Legislative Advocacy Conference gives you the opportunity to help put the education profession's stamp on ESEA, an act that suffered from lack of professional input when it was rewritten in secret drafting sessions where it was transformed into what is now known as NCLB. As news dribbled out from those locked doors, AASA told the drafters about the folly of their work to no avail. Ultimately, we opposed its passage--the only education association in Washington to do so.

Now we're post-2006 elections and the drafting process for ESEA will open, giving you--through your House and Senate members--a chance to say how the federal government should work with local school districts for the betterment of education and the profession.

Participation in the AASA Legislative Advocacy Conference serves as the vehicle for your access so take a moment now to sign up. Go to www.aasa.org and click on "2007 AASA Legislative Advocacy Conference," where you'll find details of the program (running from 1 p.m. April 18 to 1 p.m. April 20).

We at AASA are eager to greet you and present a top-quality meeting where you can start a conversation with your federal representatives. But it's only a start. Phone calls and e-mails to the representative's education aide in the months that follow will give you impact on education policy in Washington.

To keep abreast of developments, join the AASA Legislative Corps by sending me an e-mail.

Nick Penning is a senior legislative analyst at AASA. E-mail: [e-mail]