Rally Day is a biennial gathering of educators and students that occurs when the Texas legislature is in its regular session. It is led by the Austin Council Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), an organization that includes teachers, parents, students, and education workers from all over the Austin area.
The event was established in 1976 as “PTA Day at the Capitol,” where members started the tradition of rallying in support of public education. This year, the event took place on Feb. 24. LASA partnered with Raise Your Hand Texas, an organization that emphasizes public advocacy, to send a group of students to the Capitol and discuss education matters with their legislators. The student caucus was made up of LASA students and other Austin Independent School District students and teachers. They marched from First Baptist Church on 901 Trinity to the Capitol, with many Texas students starting chants, waving flags, and holding signs in support of education.
One student was sophomore Connor Praba, the events director for the Student Advocacy Alliance, a student-run organization where students are given opportunities to advocate and share their stories throughout this legislative session. Praba explained that students value Rally Day as an outlet to express their unique voices in the conversation.
“Texas students are 5.5 million voices strong, so let’s make sure we’re heard from our classroom to the halls of Congress,” Praba said. “We need to remember that in this time of uncertainty, advocating for the change you want to see is increasingly important.”
Raise Your Hand Texas’ student participants, such as Praba, were able to set up meetings with specific representatives and senators. This allowed students to engage with the representatives and bring their own important perspectives to the conversation.
“Advocacy is the lifeblood of American civil society,” Praba said. “We are in the midst of Texas’s 89th legislative session and one of the most tumultuous times in American history.”
Specific education issues the PTA were emphasizing include raising the student allotment, or the basic amount of money Texas gives public schools, school safety, and vouchers. Many representatives collaborate with the PTA to help them succeed in these goals, one being State Representative Gina Hinojosa of District 49, who discussed the importance of the PTA’s objectives.
“We’ve seen this pressure on our classrooms and on our schools, and it is, one, a safety issue,” Hinojosa said. “Because the more caring adults we have on the campus, the safer our kids are. There is probably actually no single greatest safety issue than having enough caring adults on a campus. But it also is getting in the way of teaching and learning when we don’t have the adults on campus that we need. Basic allotment allows for us to hire more teachers on campus.”
Rally Day provides a chance for students around Texas to talk to various people around the capitol and to learn more about the Texas government. Mike O’Connor, the chief of staff for State Representative Maria Luisa “Lulu” Flores from District 51 explained the need to communicate your message.
“If it’s got your address on it, if it’s got your name, if it looks like it’s written by a real person, we care a lot more about that,” O’Connor said. “Another thing is, ask for something. If you don’t ask for anything, there’s nothing we can really do with your communication.”
Rally day allows for citizens and constituents to educate their legislators on the realities of the public school system. This is commonly in the form of telling personal accounts of your experiences to better inform your representatives.
“It’s important to stress your stories,” Hinojosa said. “Many legislators in this building have no connection to public schools. They don’t have their kids in public schools. People don’t know how dire things are.”
