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KNEA/USA Coordinated Organizing Plan for the 2006 Legislative Session

Our objective is to establish a continuous presence in the capitol through the bulk of the 2006 session. Our “lobbyists” will present a unified voice in support of public education.

USA will assign a superintendent from each KNEA UniServ District to serve as co-coordinator with the KNEA UniServ Director.

Lobby days will be every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from January 24 through May 4.

Each UniServ District will be assigned two days – one early in the session and one late.

The task of the co-coordinators will be to assemble a lobby team of approximately 25 persons to come to Topeka for the assigned day. Each team should be a mix of school administrators, teachers, school board members, parents, and patrons. No one group should dominate the team.

On the assigned day:

• The team meets at KNEA at 8:00 am. A briefing will be conducted by representatives of USA and KNEA.
• Team members will be given lapel stickers to be worn in the capitol.
• The legislative calendar for the day will be reviewed.
• Talking points will be distributed.
• Team members will be in the capitol by 9:00 am. Their responsibility is to make their presence known generally and specifically to lobby legislators from their region.
• Team members are encouraged, with the help of the co-coordinators, to set appointments with legislators from their district.
• Team members will submit a brief report form to representatives of KNEA and USA.

Assigned Dates:

Co-coordinators of organizing effort:

UniServ Directors:

•  Alliance (N): Ward Symons
• Ark Valley (C): Vickie Nitsch
• Capital (I): Jack Williamson
• Cottonwood (A): Bob White
• KNEA Southwest (B): Kevin Scarrow
• Konza (G): Kevin Belt KNEA
• Shawnee Mission (M): Lisa Elliott
• Pony Express (J): Lily Kober
• Prairie Fire (O) Bruce Lindskog
• Six Rivers (P): Steve Lopes
• South Central (E): Dave Kirkbride
• Three Trails (L): Gene Neely
• UD 114(D): Kevin Riemann UniServ
• Southeast (Q): Tony White
• United Teachers of Wichita (F): Greg Jones
• Walnut Valley (H): Carolyn Schmitt
• Wyandotte United (K): Ollie Carroll

A map and contact information for each UniServ Director is available online at:

http://www.knea.org/about_us/local_map.htm

Administrative Contact for the KNEA/USA Lobbying Effort:

Uniserv Area                  Name                                        Position

Alliance                          Mr. Mike Slagle             Ex. Asst. to Supt. Blue Valley

Ark Valley                     Dr. Mary Jo Taylor          Supt. Stafford

Capital                          Mr. Mike Mathes            Supt. Seaman

Cottonwood                   Dr. Kent Otte                 Supt. Phillipsburg

KNEA Southwest           Dr. David Self                 Supt. Hugoton

Konza                           Mr. Steve Joonas           Supt. Barnes

KNEA SM                     Mr. Stuart Little              Lobbyist Shawnee Mission

Pony Express                Mr. John Severin            Supt. Hiawatha

Prairie Fire                    Mr. Jan Collins               Supt. Ottawa

Six Rivers                      Mr. Gordon Myers          Supt. Garnett

South Central                Dr. Craig Elliott               Supt. Maize

Three Trails                   Dr. Sharon Zoellner        Supt. DeSoto

UD 114                         Dr. Robert Goodwin        Supt. Southeast of Saline

UniServ SE                    Mr. Gary Price                Supt. Pittsburg

U T of Wichita                Ms. Diane Gjerstad         Lobbyist Wichita

Walnut Valley                 Mr. Marvin Estes            Supt. Winfield

Wyandotte United          Mr. Carroll Macke          Dir. Pub. Rel. KCKPS

KNEA Legislative Contacts

Blake West, President
Mark Desetti, Director, Legislative and Political Advocacy
Terry Forsyth, Director, Political Action

The KNEA Lobby Team consists of elected leaders and staff. The Lobby Team welcomes member feedback on issues before the Legislature and on this site.